Right?
by Following Padfoot's Pawprints
Summary: COMPLETE! And to think... All this confusion stared with a rejection to a birthday party invitation. Now Yuffie is questioning things she didn't think she'd ever wonder. Now there's a wedding and a crazy girlfriend hanging around... uh-oh. Reeve/Yuffie
1. The Birthday Invite

**Disclaimer: Yeah... um... no, I don't own this. I wish.**

* * *

Yuffie was minding her own business as usual. Actually, she was about to head out for a walk when she felt something tugging on the hem of her shorts.

"Yuffie?"

The brunette woman looked down at the little girl that was tugging on her shorts. "Marlene!" she said happily, scooping up the small child. "What is it?" she asked, suddenly seeing the redness around the little girl's eyes that could only come from tears.

"Tifa told me that Reeve can't come to my birthday party!" she sulked. "She said he had to work!"

"What?" Yuffie said, pretending to sound outraged. Well, she was annoyed with him. Besides Vincent, Marlene had become fondest of the workaholic. "How dare he!" she said loudly, putting the girl down. "We shall hunt him down and FORCE him to come! How does that sound?" she asked with a smile.

Marlene smiled back. "Yeah!" she replied. "He needs to learn to come to his friend's birthday parties!" Yuffie nodded in agreement, grinning.

"Let's go get him!" Yuffie said, pounding her fist into the palm of her hand.

"Okay!" Marlene said happily. "Oh, wait... I gotta ask Tifa first. Wait here, 'kay?"

"Of course!" Yuffie assured her. Marlene rushed from the room, glancing suspiciously over her shoulder to make sure that the ninja was still there. Yuffie couldn't help but smile slightly. She adored Marlene. The little girl reminded her so much of herself when she was little... only she wasn't a ninja.

Marlene walked back into the room with Tifa. Yuffie looked at the young girl's face, only to see a pout. Tifa looked annoyed. The Princess of Wutai braced herself.

"Yuffie," she said, sounding agitated. "Marlene CANNOT go with you to annoy Reeve. He has a really important job. Can't you let him work for once?"

Yuffie opened her mouth to answer "NO!", but she saw the look on Tifa's face that quite clearly said "don't you dare".

"Um... yeah, I guess you're right, Tifa," she said lightly. "We really shouldn't annoy Reeve. Sorry, Marlene."

The little girl huffed before stomping off to color some more.

"Yuffie," Tifa said, rubbing her temples, "please don't encourage bad behavior from Marlene, okay?"

"Oh, come on, Tifa! It was just a bit of harmless fun!" Yuffie replied with a grin. Tifa glared at her. "Fine, fine. I'll stop being a "bad influence"... well, I'll try to stop anyway, okay?"

"Thank you," Tifa told her before walking back to the bar.

The moment Tifa was out of sight, Yuffie bolted from the building and headed towards WRO building. _Time to annoy Reeve_, she thought. _Tifa will never have to know._

The twenty year old pranced into the building and bolted up the stairs. When she reached Reeve's floor and started to walk down the hallway, Reeve's secretary, Teresa, looked up and smiled.

"Hello, Yuffie," she said politely. "How are you?"

"I'm great, Teresa! Thanks for asking!" Yuffie told her. She put her hand on the doorknob and started to turn it.

"Um... Miss Yuffie!" Teresa suddenly yelped. "Mr. Tuesti is busy. If you need to give him something, I can hold it for you." Yuffie took her hand off the doorknob.

"Well, that might be a little difficult," the woman replied. "You see, I want to give him a piece of my mind." With that she threw the door open, ignoring poor Teresa's pleads.

She was greeted with the sight of Reeve and an unknown woman. This wasn't so strange, since she might be a client, but the fact that he had her pressed against a wall was a little unusual. Yuffie could only stare at the pair as they played tonsil hockey quite avidly.

"Oh," she said, once she recovered her voice.

"That's why I didn't want you to open the door," Teresa whispered.

"Yuffie?" His shocked eyes met her own.

The woman in question stared back at Reeve like a deer in the headlights. "So-sorry," she stuttered. "I'll just come back later."

She quickly slammed the door shut and stared blankly ahead. "I'll stop by later, okay, Teresa?" she asked, and, without waiting for a reply, she dashed down the hall to the stairs.

Yuffie made record time back to 7th Heaven. The only problem was that all the way there she couldn't figure out why the sight of Reeve with another woman in his arms bothered her. After all, he was her best friend. It's not like she could possibly be _crushing _on him, could it? Yuffie laughed nervously. Of course not. Yuffie Kisaragi did NOT have a crush on Reeve Tuesti... right?

* * *

**A/N: So now that I'm hooked on these, I've gotta try to write one that is at least a few chapters long! And if you're a fan of Reeve/Yuffie, check out the link on my page for Viva La Reefie! It's a way awesome forum dedicated to this couple! Please review! **


	2. What Do I DO?

**Disclaimer: hahaha... You actually thought I could own this?**

* * *

Yuffie darted into 7th Heaven and sat down at the bar.

"Hey, Tifa!" she said, her voice still a little shaky, but not too noticably. Tifa looked at her strangely, and Yuffie could tell that she knew something was wrong.

"Hello, Yuffie," Tifa replied, glancing at Yuffie strangely. "Would you like something to drink? You look out of breath."

Yuffie smiled thankfully and opened to her mouth to request something when her phone started ringing. The annoying little tune told her instantly that it was Reeve, but she still checked caller-ID to be sure.

The name "Reeve" flashed across the screen, and Yuffie did something that she rarely did. She pressed the quiet button and let it go to voicemail.

"Yeah, Tifa, can I have a glass of water?" she asked her friend, ignoring the look of shock on her face.

"Yeah, sure, but... Yuffie, did you just NOT pick up your phone?"

"Um... yeah, I just don't feel like talking right now, that's all!" the young woman replied, making her voice as normal as possible. "I'm talking to you, and that'd be rude."

Tifa gave her another suspicious look but nodded slowly. "I'm glad that finally sunk in," the brunette teased as she handed Yuffie her water. "We've only been telling you that picking up the phone while you were talking to someone else was rude for how long now?"

Yuffie laughed. "Yeah, well, you did tell me to be a better influence for Marlene, right? I figured I'd better start now!" Tifa gave her a grateful smile. Yuffie returned it with a huge grin before gulping down her water.

"Did you go for a run or something?" Tifa asked casually.

"Uh, yeah, I ran around town a little," Yuffie told her.

"You didn't go annoy Reeve, did you?" Tifa asked, her voice becoming threatening.

"Tifa! How could you think that? Of course I didn't!" Yuffie told her, her voice innocent. Tifa stared at her disbelievingly, but she let it go. "Anyway," Yuffie said finally, "I'd better go. I promised Marlene I'd color with her today. See ya, Teef!"

With that the young princess took off in the direction of Marlene's room. She burst through the door and saw Marlene coloring.

"Hey, Marlene!" she squealed.

"Yuffie!" the little girl squealed back.

Yuffie pulled her into a hug, laughing. "Hey, where's Denzel?" she asked curiously.

"Cloud took him somewhere," Marlene said with a sigh, "and now I don't have anyone to play with."

"Can I color with you?" Yuffie asked.

"I dunno..." Marlene trailed off.

"Pleeeeeeeeeease?" Yuffie begged.

Marlene broke out into a smile. "Okay!" she told her.

The pair quickly sat down and colored. Yuffie had moved onto her second picture, a rose, when her phone beeped.

"Now what?" she grumbled. The ninja pulled her phone from her pocket and flipped it open. It told her that she had one new text message. Yuffie opened it.

**Fr: Reeve**

**Yuffie cmon pick up your phone. i need to talk to you.**

**May 16, 5:25 pm**

**Stored:**

**May 16, 5:27 pm**

Marlene tried to peek over her shoulder. "Who's it from?" she asked curiously.

"Um... Reeve," Yuffie told her.

"Oooh! Did he say he could come to my party?" Marlene asked, eyes shining.

"I think he's thinking about it, okay? I'll talk to him about it later." Yuffie assured her.

"Okay!" the small brunette said excitedly. Yuffie smiled at the sudden hope that filled the small girl's eyes. "Can you go talk to him now?"

"Sure," Yuffie said with false enthusiasm. "I'll go right now!"

Yuffie slowly walked outside, and she started down the street. What was she doing? Reeve was her best friend, and he had every right to go get a girlfriend, so why... Why did it hurt her so badly?

Yuffie groaned and sat down on a nearby bench. This couldn't be happening. She could NOT be falling for her best friend.

Her phone rang again. She simply stared at it. Eventually, it went to voicemail too. She sighed. What was _wrong_ with her?

The young woman watched the people of the city walk in front of her as they went home or out to dinner or whatever they happened to be doing. She loved watching people. She found it intensely interesting, but you never would've suspected that she enjoyed it so much. In fact, only Reeve and Vincent knew about her strange "hobby".

_Dammit!_ Could she not go two seconds with thinking about him? I mean, she hadn't even considered Reeve that way before and seeing him with another woman made her that angry? She wanted to scream in frustration and confusion.

"Lass." A paw landed on her shoulder with the voice. This really did make Yuffie yelp, and she jumped off the bench to face her "attacker".

There he was. The one guy she was trying to avoid... well, not exactly. Cait Sith stood next to the spot she had recently been sitting on.

"Are ye all right?" he asked. "I normally can't get that close to ye, lassy."

"F-fine," she said, staring at the cat robot like he was a bomb... which he might actually be, she reflected.

He gave her a worried look. "Look, Yuffie, Reeve sent me to ask ye if ye could come see 'im. He's worried about ye. Somethin' about an incident earlier."

The robot looked curious, obviously not having been told what the said incident was. Yuffie looked at the ground.

"I... I dunno, Cait," she replied.

"He wonders if ye'd like to meet 'im for dinner tonight. He'd pick ye up at Tifa's," Cait looked imporingly at her.

"I-I suppose," she said after a lengthy pause.

"Thank ye, Lassy," Cait told her before vanishing into the crowds. Yuffie groaned.

What had she gotten herself into?

* * *

**A/N: Well, there's chapter two... I'm used to having a worked out plot when I write stories, and this one I'm just writing as I go... it's very strange for me. Anyway, review please. If you see something OOC, please lemme know, I'm still pretty new to FFVII, so help me out a little! **

** And you love/like this couple, check out our forum "Viva La Reefie". There's a link on my profile.  
**


	3. Julia's Introduction

**Disclaimer: haha, right. If it was mine, Reeve and Yuffie would already be together.**

* * *

"Yuffie, where are you going?" Tifa asked curiously. The two women were in Tifa's bathroom, and Yuffie was getting ready to go to dinner. 

"Out to eat with Reeve," came the reply as Yuffie pulled down the hem of her flattering knee-length skirt. The girl could count the number of times she had worn a skirt (of her own free will) on one hand, and yet, here she was. She just felt like looking nice.

"Oh, well... you look really nice," Tifa told her honestly.

"Thanks, Tifa," Yuffie replied. She straightened her red shirt.

Tifa smiled. "I'll yell when Reeve gets here, all right?" she told her. Yuffie nodded in response. Once Tifa was gone, the ninja braced her hands on either side of the sink.

So first she couldn't even talk to him, and now she was dressing up to go to dinner with him... as friends. Yuffie sighed. She might as well admit it. She was falling HARD for her best friend.

Yuffie Kisaragi had a crush on Reeve Tuesti. Fine, she admitted it. Happy?

"YUFFIE!"

She looked at the door when Tifa yelled. "COMING!" she yelled back before running downstairs.

When Yuffie reached the bar, she saw Tifa and Reeve chatting, and Reeve wasn't wearing a suit.

"Oh. My. Gods," Yuffie gasped. The pair turned to look at her questioningly. "Reeve, you aren't wearing a suit."

He grinned. He was wearing a button-up blue shirt and a pair of khakis. Yeah, it was still kinda dressy, but not as dressy as a suit!

"I'll take that as a compliment," he laughed. Yuffie felt herself starting to swoon at the low rumble his voice made.

NO! BAD YUFFIE! Just because she admitted to having a crush on him doesn't mean she had to act like a love-sick teenager!

"It was," she said offhandedly. "You look very nice."

"As do you," he replied, his eyes sparkling with relief at the easy way she talked to him. If only he knew how hard she was working to keep her voice light and pleasant.

He opened her car door for her, and she climbed in. He quickly got in on his side, and the drive to the restaurant was painfully silent. When they got to the restaurant, the pair were guided to a booth in the back. The pair ordered their meals and sat quietly.

That was when Yuffie decided to change tactics. "So... um... Who's your new girlfriend?" she asked teasingly, wiggling her eyebrows.

Reeve shifted uncomfortably. "She's, uh, an old colleague," he told her awkwardly.

"Okaaaaaaaay. How about her name?" she prompted.

"Her name's Julia," he replied shortly, obviously really uncomfortable now.

Silence covered them like a heavy blanket.

"Look, Yuffie," Reeve started.

"Reeve," Yuffie started at the same time. The pair exchanged awkward looks. "You first," Yuffie said finally.

"Yuffie, I'm, uh, really sorry you had to walk in on that today," he mumbled, looking away. "It was really embarrassing for me... I can't even imagine how it was for you."

Yuffie grinned. "Hey, it's fine. I shoulda knocked first." She laughed. "I hope I didn't embarrass Julia too much either."

He smiled back, suddenly looking at ease. _Ha! _Yuffie thought. _I so should've been an actress!_

"I think she was okay with it after the first shock," he said with a rumbling laugh.

"Yes, I was." A beautifully pedicured hand landed on Reeve's shoulder.

Yuffie looked up. A slender brunette stood behind Reeve. Her hair fell around her shoulders in ringlets, and her baby blue eyes scanned Yuffie. She was beautiful, and Yuffie was dead jealous of her.

The ninja couldn't say she was ever really _unhappy_ with how she looked, but now she couldn't help but wonder if it was the curls or the eyes that got Reeve. The curls she could do... but she liked her eyes.

Her thoughts were interrupted by "Julia's" voice. "You must be Yuffie," she said politely. "I've heard so much about you. It's very pleasant to finally make your acquaintance. My name is Julia Markov."

A hand was offered to Yuffie who gingerly took it, mentally flinching at the friction between Julia's beautifully taken care of hands and Yuffie's rough ones.

"You're right!" Yuffie said with fake delight. "Yuffie Kisaragi at your service! Pleased to meetcha!"

"The pleasure is all mine," Julia said in her polished voice. "Reeve? May I?" she asked, and Reeve willing slid farther in the seat. Julia moved with inhuman grace to sit next to him. He wrapped his arm around her waist.

"So, um, how long have you guys been together now?" Yuffie asked after a significant amount of silence.

"I don't even remember now," Reeve said with a soft smile. Which, Yuffie couldn't help but notice, was directed at _Julia_ over there. "How long has it been?"

"Around two months," she answered.

"Oh. That's cool," Yuffie replied. Cue more awkward silence.

"You're a princess, aren't you, Yuffie?" Julia asked suddenly, looking up from the menu.

"Um... Yeah, I am, but I've been avoiding it lately," she said with a laugh as the waiter put down her meal of chicken in front of her.

"That's interesting," the woman said, staring at Yuffie as she ate. The princess felt as though she was being put through her paces like a horse for sale.

"How did you guys meet?" Yuffie asked, trying to strike for a conversation.

"I'm Rufus Shinra's cousin, and I came for a visit and happened to find Reeve." She sent Reeve a lovely smile that made Yuffie's blood boil angrily.

She probably went to a finishing school and everything, and Yuffie couldn't help but be annoyed by this thought as well.

"Well, it's been good talking to you Reeve, but I better go," Yuffie said. "You know, places to go, people to see..." she trailed off as she got up. He gave her a confused look but nodded. "Nice to meet you, Julia. See ya, Reeve."

The "White Rose of Wutai" spun on her heel and left. She was walking away from the door when she heard her name being called. She turned around hopefully, but no, it was Julia.

"Oh, hello, Julia," she said stiffly. "How can I help you?"

"I just thought we should have a "girl chat"," the woman told her. Suddenly her expression changed from distantly pleasant to downright threatening. "I wanted to make sure that you knew to stay away from Reeve. You've had your chance."

"I-I have no idea," Yuffie started.

"No," Julia interrupted. "I saw the way you looked at him. You two can be friends, fine, but don't overstep your boundaries, _princess_. Remember the connections I have," she spat. Her expression changed back to pleasant. "Have a nice night, Yuffie," Julia told her nicely enough before disappearing back into the restaurant.

Yuffie could only stare at the doors of the restaurant for the longest time before turning and walking to a bus stop. She'd catch a bus back to her apartment, she decided. She needed sleep.

* * *

**A/N: Poor, poor Yuffie... being threatened by Rufus Shinra's cousin... Poor girl.  
**


	4. The Turks Intervene

**Once again... Disclaimer: No. I don't own it. Really. I don't.**

* * *

Yuffie unlocked her apartment door and let herself in. She caught sight of herself in a mirror in her hallway and laughed bitterly. As if anything she could do to her appearance could make her have an advantage over Julia. Yeah, right. 

She took the clips from her hair on her way to her room. She set them on her desk before getting changed into a pair of short cotton shorts and a long tee-shirt. The young woman slid a pair of socks on as well.

She always put on socks when she was at home because she had hardwood floors, and it was just faster to get around by sliding. Today though, she didn't really feel like sliding around. She just put socks on because it was a habit.

Yuffie walked to her kitchen and plugged her phone into the wall. She then wandered around her kitchen looking for some sort of comfort food. She ended up with a handful of cookies and a glass of milk. She sat down at her table and started devouring them, only to hear a beep from her phone that signified a text.

She set her glass down and got up to check the message.

**Fr: Reeve**

**Yuffie are you ok? you left really fast.**

**May 16, 8:56 pm**

**Stored:**

**May 16, 8:58 pm**

Yuffie stared at it before typing her reply and hitting send.

**To: Reeve**

**Yeah im fine. just needed 2 get home.**

It didn't take long for her reply to come, but it wasn't a text. The jingle her phone played told her it was Reeve, and she almost didn't pick up, but he knew she was there. With a sigh, she answered.

"'Lo?" she asked.

"Yuffie," Reeve said sounding relieved. "I wanted to make sure you got home safe."

"Why wouldn't I?" she asked, looking hungrily at her cookies. "I can take care of myself, Reeve."

"I know that," he replied, sounding hurt. "I was just worried about you is all."

"Don't bother okay?" she said softly. "Go bond with Julia. She deserves your attention."

"Yuffie, you deserve it too. You're my best friend!"

"Reeve, I gotta go. I'll talk to you later. Bye."

She hung up without waiting for a reply, and she turned off her phone. The young princess sat her table and wolfed down the rest of the cookies before draining the milk. With a heartfelt sigh, she turned and left the kitchen for bed.

**---r-e-e-f-i-e---**

Yuffie awoke to her alarm clocking ringing noisily in her ear. Her palm slammed down on the annoying object, and, with a groan, she rolled out of bed.

She dragged herself to the bathroom to take a shower and brush her teeth and whatnot. About twenty-five minutes later, the young woman found herself stirring a mug of coffee. She wasn't looking forward to work today. After all, it's kinda hard to avoid your boss if he wants to talk to you.

The ninja sighed before getting dressed in the uniform required by the WRO. She hated it. In fact, she kept her "street clothes" in a bag that she took to work with her.

She ran her hands down the black suit skirt. At least she didn't have to wear a tie like Elena. That would just kill her. She grabbed her work bag and her suit jacket before sliding her feet into a pair of tennis shoes and walking out to the bus stop.

She rode the bus silently. Usually she would engage the person next to her in conversation, but today, well, she didn't feel like it.

"'Cuse me, miss," a voice said teasingly, "but I do believe that tennis shoes and a suit don't go together."

Yuffie looked at the person next to her, and her silver eyes met a pair of startling blue ones. She felt a friendly smile slide across her face.

"Reno," she greeted. Yeah, he could be annoying, but Yuffie had become pretty close to the Turks while she worked at WRO. After all, Rufus was there often enough that they talked quite a bit. "For your information, I have heels in my bag, but it's easier to walk there in tennis shoes and change shoes there."

He laughed. "Clever, clever," he drawled.

"Why are you riding the bus anyways?" she asked curiously.

"Eh, Rude left me this morning." He chuckled at her strange look. "He was my ride, but I was "taking too long", so he left."

Yuffie giggled. "Sucks to be you!" she snickered.

"Yeah yeah, rub it in why don't you?" he grumbled.

"Are you working at WRO today?" she asked. The pair engaged in conversation the entire bus ride, and they walked to the building together. Reno walked with her to her office.

"What exactly do you do?" he asked, not cruelly.

"I'm... uh... I think my official name is Information Consultant," she said thoughtfully. "Which basically means I'm a spy and get to go on field duty, but not so much anymore," she said with a sigh.

"Lemme guess," Reno started, "you were happy until you got put in charge and now you're too busy/important to do anything."

She grinned. "Yeah, pretty much," she replied, slipping off her shoes and putting them under her desk with her bag. She quickly slid a pair of plain high heels onto her feet and slid her jacket on. "Better?" she asked, spinning in a circle.

Reno shrugged. "Not good enough to be a Turk, but definitely an improvement."

He had to duck the throwing star thrown his way. He didn't even glance when it made a large THUNK sound against the door.

"That, my friend, was uncalled for," he told her briskly. She rolled her eyes. "So, I heard that Reeve finally got a life."

"What?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He's got a chick, doesn't he? Rufus's cousin or somethin'?" Reno shrugged. "I dunno."

Yuffie felt her eyes go dark. "Yeah. Her name's Julia." She didn't mean to spit out the name. Honest. Reno raised his eyebrows.

"Little jealous there?"

"Yeah, Reno, incredibly jealous," she said dryly. "No, I'm not jealous."

"So, you're not jealous."

She shook her head no.

"You're not taken."

She responded negatively again.

"And are you doing anything tonight?"

"No. Why?" she asked.

"Wondering if you wanted to go on a double date with me, Elena, and Tseng. We can go as friends of course, but it'd be fun." He examined a picture on the wall of AVALANCHE as he waited for his answer.

Yuffie was quiet for a while. "Y'know what?" she started. "I'd love to."

"I'll pick you up at 7:00?" he asked. She smiled and nodded. He turned to leave.

"Oh, wait," she called. He looked over his shoulder at her. "How dressy do I have to be?"

"Whatever you qualify a movie and going to a bar to be. Oh, and there'll be dancing," he mentioned. "See ya," he said over his shoulder as he left.

**---r-e-e-f-i-e---**

And once the door was shut, Elena crept up to Reno.

"Well?" she asked impatiently.

"Well what?" he asked.

"Is she going?"

"Yeah," he said with a sigh. "Plan... what was it again?"

"Plan Reefie," she said, sounding annoyed.

"Yeah, Plan Reefie is in motion, okay? Happy? Now you owe me."

She grinned. "Yeah, I know."

* * *

**A/N: haha. The Turks are planning. Muhahaha. I went through a Reffie phase, so thought i'd throw that in here. haha. And I love Elena. I hope I got her and Reno right... **


	5. A Date With Reno

**Disclaimer: Seriously... I don't own this. **

* * *

Dancing.

The word alone excited Yuffie. She adored it. When she fought, it always felt like she was dancing, one movement flowing to the next.

When her mother had insisted on her taking dance lessons, she hadn't been happy about it. Now though, she couldn't thank her late mother more. Doing a pirouette at the right time had saved her butt more times then she cared to count.

The young lady had already showered, and she was currently dressed in a robe and her underwear as she searched for SOMETHING to wear.

Eventually, she decided on a pair of khaki short shorts and layered blue and black tank tops. She let her shoulder-length hair hang loose around her face.

Hell, she'd even put make-up. You have to give her a 10 for effort. The doorbell rang.

"COMING!" she yelled. She took off running down her hallway and skidded to a stop with her knee high socks. She slid her feet into her sneakers, grabbed her keys and her phone, and opened the door with a smile.

She expected to see Reno waiting impatiently. Instead, she saw Reeve standing there awkwardly.

"Oh. Hi, Reeve," she said in shock.

"Not who you were expecting?" he asked weakly, taking in her ready-to-go appearance.

"Not really," Yuffie said brightly.

"Hey, Julia and I are going out tonight, and we were wondering if you wanted to come with us," he offered as they walked down to the end of the hallway by the outside door.

She smiled at him, but then she caught sight of Reno and the others pulling up. "I'd love to, Reeve, but I've already got plans. Thanks for the offer though!" she said honestly. "Rain check?"

"Yeah," he replied with a grin.

Yuffie pranced over to Reno, who had gotten out of the car. "Hey!" she exclaimed.

"Hey," he replied with a grin. "You look pretty damn good, Yuffie."

She laughed. "Thanks," she replied before spinning around for him the second time that day. "I have to admit, I _am_ pretty hot." She winked at him.

He chuckled and opened the door for her. She got in the car and he slid in after her.

"Hey, Elena, Tseng," Yuffie greeted.

Tseng grunted, but Elena turned around in the passenger seat. "Hey, Yuffie! Are you ready? We're gonna have fun tonight!"

Yuffie grinned back at her. "Yeah, we're gonna have a blast!" The two girls laughed.

**---r-e-e-f-i-e---**

"Okay," Yuffie said after they saw the movie. "With a name like World's End, you kinda expect a much better movie then that... or was that just me?"

"No," Reno said brightly. "That movie _did_ suck. It wasn't just you."

She stared at him suspiciously. "If you were trying to say something perverted, take it back."

"Aw, come on, Yuffie! Don't be a killjoy," he pouted. She cracked up.

"We're here!" Elena sang, jumping out of the car and waiting impatiently for Tseng to get out.

Reno and Yuffie headed to the bar. Reno bought her a drink, and they chatted for a while about nothing in particular. Reno got up and danced with a few girls, and Yuffie danced with a few guys. Eventually, they met back at the bar again.

"Dance?" Reno asked.

"Oh yes," came Yuffie's instant reply.

Almost immediately, the pair was dancing together. Yuffie was surprised at how well Reno could dance. He crept up behind her after about thirty minutes more and placed his hands on her hips before leaning forward to whisper in her ear.

"Having fun?" he asked, his breath rushing past her ear.

She jumped and laughed. "Yeah!" she yelled back. Suddenly the music slowed. "Darn," she sighed.

"Yuffie," Reno laughed, "I'm your date. We can dance to slow songs too."

She spun around in his arms and rested her hands behind his neck. "Thanks for bringing me Reno. This is fun."

"Well, I figured it was better then having you sulking all day."

"What?"

"Over Reeve and his new girlfriend."

"I told you, I'm not jealous," she said firmly.

"Oh really?" he asked. He looked over her head and grinned. Yuffie assumed it was at either Elena or Tseng. "Then you won't mind this?" he asked.

"Mind what?" she asked as she looked at his face. He grinned and leaned down and kissed her.

She froze. She couldn't even remember the last time she had been kissed, and here she was, getting kissed, by Reno no less. Who obviously knew what he was doing, she thought with approval.

Without thinking, she responded. Her hands slid from his neck to bury themselves in his fire-red hair. His tongue swept along her lips, and she eagerly let it in. Their tongues twisted and twined around each other sensually. One of his hands cupped her cheek and the other was rubbing circles on her hips.

Someone coughed behind her. Yuffie jumped.

Oh. My. Gods. She had just made out with Reno. RENO! Urg... she hated hormones. Reno grinned at her.

"Didn't know you could kiss so well, Princess," he teased.

Yuffie turned around, her cheeks dusted pink, and she saw Elena staring at the pair of them with amusement and Tseng with disapproval.

"If you two are done," Elena started. "We're ready to go if you are."

Yuffie flushed. "Yeah, I think so," she said. Her face reddened even more when she felt Reno slide his arm around her waist. They walked to the door like that, but she stopped him after Tseng and Elena walked out.

He looked at her with a question in his eyes. "What?" he asked.

"Why did you kiss me?" she asked softly.

"Why wouldn't I?" he replied. "You're a sexy and beautiful woman, and anyone who can't see that is either blind or they're stupid." He grinned at her. "You seemed to like it though."

She blushed. "Well, yeah, I was just curious is all..." she trailed off as his lips found her's again briefly. She gave him a silly grin as he pulled away, and he laughed.

"Come on," he said softly. "Let's go."

**---r-e-e-f-i-e---**

Reno walked Yuffie to her apartment door.

"Thanks, Reno," she told him. "I really did have fun." She smiled at him, and he smiled back. Shouldn't this be where she got butterflies in her stomach? But she didn't, and it confused her.

"Yeah, no prob. Night, Yuffie," he told her before walking off.

Thoughtfully, she let herself into her home and shut the door to get ready for bed.

**---r-e-e-f-i-e---**

"Well?" Elena asked the moment Reno was in the car again.

"Yeah, Reeve was watching us almost the whole time. His girl was gettin' pretty pissed at him," Reno's grin was toothy. "I can't say I didn't enjoy the kissing though."

"Reno," Tseng warned. "I'm only doing this on Rufus's orders, so don't screw it up or I'll get you out of the equation."

"Relax, relax. I just said she was a good kisser, not that I wanted to date her, geez."

* * *

**A/N: So Rufus is in on it too... haha. The distinct lack of Reefie-ness will stop soon, I promise. Thanks for reading and please review! **


	6. RUFUS!

**Disclaimer: NO! I DON'T OWN THEM! I just play. -grins-**

* * *

Yuffie felt much better today. She had a great time last night, she wasn't hung over, and she … CRAP, SHE WAS LATE FOR WORK!

The young woman moved more quickly then you should ever be required to in the morning. She rushed to make breakfast and got dressed in her uniform as she ate. She grabbed her bag and was sliding her feet into her shoes as she ran outside to catch the bus. Instead, she saw Reno leaning against a black car.

"You want a ride?" he asked with a smirk. Yuffie smiled gratefully at him.

"Thanks, Reno," she told him as she threw her bag into the backseat of the car.

"Hey, no prob," he told her as he started to drive.

"If this is your car, how come you didn't drive yesterday?" she asked suddenly.

"Eh, didn't feel like it," he told her. "Plus I didn't know you'd be on the bus, and if I give someone else a ride too, it makes it more worthwhile, y'know?"

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Yuffie agreed as she straightened her clothes.

"Good thing I did too 'cause you already missed the bus," he informed her.

"Then thanks a lot, Reno," she said even more gratefully.

It didn't take long to get to the WRO, and Reno walked her to her office again. At some point, his arm slipped around her waist, and they were talking quite comfortably. Well, until Yuffie crashed into someone. She dropped her bag and hurriedly knelt to pick it up as well as the papers the person had dropped.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed as she and Reno handed a stack of papers to the man.

"Oh, Yuffie!" Reeve said, sounding startled. The poor girl felt her heart speed up drastically when she saw it was him. "It's fine. My fault after all," he told her. His chocolate eyes darted between her and Reno. "Anyway, I got to go. Rufus is coming soon, after all, right Reno?"

"I wouldn't know," Reno told him politely, slipping an arm around Yuffie's waist again. "I'm off-duty today."

"Oh, well, I'll just be going then," Reeve said. His eyes broke contact with Reno's, and he left.

"Bye Reeve!" Yuffie yelled after him, puzzled. "Why was he acting so strangely?" she asked Reno.

"Eh, who knows? Stress, girlfriend, having me around…" he winked.

"That would go under the stress catergory," Yuffie informed him teasingly.

Reno clutched his chest. "Oh, Yuffie, that hurt!" he gasped.

"Oh, shut up. Now go away so I can do my work," she told him, rolling her eyes.

"Fine, fine," he mumbled. He leaned across her desk and gave her a quick peck before leaving. Once the door shut, Yuffie sat in silence.

Did this make them a couple or what? She was confused, but whatever. She shook her head before starting on a report from one of her top spies.

She was working for a few hours before her desk phone rang.

"Miss Kisaragi speaking," she said briskly. Her secretary only put important calls through after all.

"Yuffie, can you come to my office please?"

"Right now, Reeve?" she sighed. "I'm actually doing some really important paper work."

"Yes, Yuffie, right now."

"Fine, I'm coming," she told him. "Bye." She hung up her phone and rubbed her eyes. With another sigh, she got up and slid her feet into her heels. She wasn't sure if she really wanted to talk to Reeve, not until she got over this stupid crush.

The woman walked quickly to Reeve's office. She knocked firmly.

"Come in," came Reeve's amused voice. She walked in and shut the door behind her. Reeve sat behind his desk, and Rufus was sitting in front of it, flanked by Tseng and Elena.

"Hello, Rufus," she said professionally. "Hey Elena. Tseng," she added with a grin. Rufus and Tseng nodded at her, and Elena grinned. "Yes, Reeve?"

He motioned to Rufus. "He wishes to speak to you."

"I was wondering, Miss Kisaragi," he started, "if you would like to come to our annual Shinra Ball. We need WRO representatives there, and, according to Reeve, you would do a good job of representing WRO, and, according to Reno, you are a lovely dancer."

"I-I would love to, but first I have a question." Reeve raised his eyebrows. "May I bring a date of my own? And when is this ball?"

"Reeve is," he replied. "You're bringing Julia, correct?" A look of dislike swept across the blonde man's face. Reeve nodded stiffly. "Then you may, but Reno will be there as a body guard, so you cannot keep him the entire night, and the date has been set for this Saturday. I'm sorry for the short notice, but I was just imformed that the WRO hadn't been ivited yet."

Yuffie blushed. "Thank you, sir." She shifted uncomfortably, feeling Reeve's eyes on her. She turned swiftly to him. "If that is all, Reeve, I'll excuse myself. I have an employee coming in soon, and I wish to be there to greet him."

Reeve nodded. "You may go."

**---r-e-e-v-i-e---**

_A ball?!_ That meant she had to go shopping, and that meant spending her hard earned cash on a dress she would only wear once. A waste of money, if you ask her.

Unfortunately no one did, so it really didn't matter.

She held her head in her hands. At least Reeve was going, she couldn't help but think. That should make it more entertaining... unless Julia decided to keep him away.

Yuffie tiredly put her sneakers back on. She was going to walk to the cafe and get something to eat before heading home, she decided.

The ninja got into the elevator and rode it to the lobby. Waving goodbye to the main receptionist, she turned to leave the building. She noticed the person in front of her just in time to put up her hands.

A laugh rumbled from the redhead's chest. "Hey, I know my body is nice and all, but keep your hands to yourself in public, okay?" he asked with a wink.

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "You seem to be turning up everywhere," she said thoughtfully. "I wasn't aware that I had a stalker."

Another laugh escaped his mouth. "Stalker... boyfriend... is there a big difference?"

"I didn't know we were a couple."

"Fine, fine. Yuffie Kisaragi," he said with mock seriousness, "would you do me the honor of becoming my girlfriend?"

"I suppose so." She sighed dramatically before returning his smile. "I'm going to the cafe, wanna come?" He slid an arm around her waist in reply. She saw him glance over his shoulder with a smirk and gave him a confused look. "Who are you smiling at?" she asked, trying to twist around.

"Oh, don't worry about it. It's just some WRO guy that's jealous that I'm leaving with such a beautiful woman."

"Oh, shut up."

**---r-e-e-f-i-e---**

Elena grinned at Reno and Yuffie. It was a pity that Rufus had ordered them to get Reeve and Yuffie together. Reno and her were cute. Then again, she doubted they last very long.

She glanced at her boss. He was watching the scene before them unfold with interest. A smile even crossed his face when Reno glanced back and met Reeve's eyes.

The man felt badly for Reeve. After all, he had just seen his best friend, who he was falling for, get asked out by Reno of the Turks. Rufus would make sure Reeve got the girl he deserved, namely, Yuffie. Now, it wasn't that he was particularly worried about Reeve getting his "perfect girl", Rufus simply wanted Julia out of the picture. He knew what she wanted, and he was going to make sure his "lovely" cousin didn't get it.

"You've done a good job, Elena," Rufus praised softly. The said Turk beamed at the compliment.

**---r-e-e-f-i-e---**

"So, Reno," Yuffie started as he drove her home. "I was wondering if you'd formally accompany me to the ball as my date."

He glanced from the road to look at her. "I can't be your date the whole time," he told her.

"I know," she told him. "You could even show up in your Turk uniform, as long you clean up a little," she told him with a teasing grin.

"Okay, okay," he told her with a smile. It was too bad, he couldn't help but think, that her and Reeve weren't already together. He liked her as a friend, so kissing her was awkward, but whenever he saw her and Reeve together, her eyes lit up. It made him happy for her.

He shuddered. Way to mushy to think about, he told himself as he gave Yuffie's concerned look a reassuring smile.

**---r-e-e-f-i-e---**

Reeve looked out the window blankly. Julia was sitting on his desk talking animatedly about something, but he wasn't paying attention. He was thinking too much about what he had seen downstairs.

Reno and _Yuffie_? As a _couple_?

The man was shocked.

"Reeve? Reeve, darling? Are you even listening to me?" Julia's lovely voice pulled him from his thoughts.

"What? Oh, of course, I am, sweetheart," he told her absentmindedly.

"What's wrong, honey?" Julia asked, concerned. She moved to stand behind him and started rubbing his shoulders.

"Nothing. I'm just in shock is all."

"Oh?"

"I just saw Reno ask Yuffie out," he said offhandedly.

"How lovely for them," Julia said, her voice sugary. "I would've thought that Reno would do better though."

"Hey!" Reeve snarled, leaping from his chair to face her. "Don't say that about Yuffie. If anything _she's_ too good for _him_."

Julia looked surprised. "I'm sorry, Reeve. I didn't realize you would take such offense to that..."

"Yeah, well, please refrain from speaking badly about her again, okay, Julia?" he asked, holding his head in his hand.

"Of course darling," she cooed, but her eyes were filled with hatred for the young ninja.

* * *

**A/N: ooooh, I love writing Julia. Now, I've avoided giving insight on the others, but this was so you could get a handle of everyone else's situations. It's a rare gift, so enjoy. Thanks for reading and please review!!! **


	7. Dresses, Drama, and Balls

**Disclaimer: NO! FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, NO!!!!**

* * *

"Yuffie!" a voice called above her.

Yuffie let out a very un-princess-y groan and rolled over.

"Time to wake up!" the sing song voice continued. "I even got us the day off so that we could go _shopping_."

"Elena. Not. Right. Now."

Elena pouted. "But you need a dress... come on!"

"Fine, fine," Yuffie grumbled, getting off her bed and getting ready to spend the day shopping.

**---r-e-e-f-i-e---**

Yuffie swore she was going insane. They had found plenty of other nice dresses at the other stores, but Elena always had something negitive about them.

With a sigh, the lithe woman stepped into another dress, this one a halter neck. Elena stepped forward to lace up the back.

"Well?" Yuffie asked, sounding annoyed, as she spun in a circle. Elena was nodding slowly.

"The blue looks good on you. It's form-fitting enough around your torso, and it's got the gathering fabric to draw attention to your waist. I like the way it drops away from your hips, too. The sparkles fit you too. Plus, it'll match Reno's suit!" she decided. "Yes, that one will do."

"Finally!" Yuffie exclaimed.

"Now for shoes, purse..." Elena started, and Yuffie groaned.

**---r-e-e-f-i-e---**

"Reno, how is Operation Reefie going?" Rufus asked from behind his desk.

"Eh, all right, I guess, sir," Reno replied. "Reeve is jealous. Yuffie is an awesome kisser."

Rufus rubbed his temples. "I really did not have to know that," he imformed his employee.

Reno grinned. "What I don't get," he started, looking slightly confused, "is why you hate Julia so much."

"Hate is a strong word," Rufus informed him. "I highly dislike her is all. As for why, that has to do with family issues."

"She's your father's sister's daughter, right?"

"Yes, and she wished to get invovled in the family business, but it was denied to her. We have never gotten along, and perhaps that is why she wishes to marry the head of the WRO," he pondered to himself.

"Sir, I still don't understand," Reno started.

"For power, Reno," he said briskly. "If she and Reeve wed, and Reeve dies, who do you think has control of _his_ company, hm?"

"Oh."

"Exactly. I cannot allow that to happen.The WRO has done more good then I would've thought possible, and I want it kept in responsible hands. If something should happen to Reeve, Yuffie is a fantastic alternative." He smirked at Reno's expression. "You'd be surprised at how well she could handle it, I think."

**---r-e-e-f-i-e---**

Yuffie collasped on her couch. Shopping with Elena was more tiring then travelling with AVALANCHE! Of course, Yuffie was fairly out of shape, so that might explain it, she figured. That and the fact that she had spent her whole paycheck, nearly.

At least now she had her dress, shoes, purse, and, well, everything she'd need. The ball was in four days. It was hard to believe.

And she was going with Reno, her boyfriend. It was great... so why was she so disappointed that she couldn't be going with her boss?

Yuffie groaned and let her head fall against the couch. She had it bad for a man that would never look at her that way. She might as well suck it up and move on, she figured. The young woman pulled herself off the couch to go put her things away.

**---r-e-e-f-i-e---**

It wasn't long before the strangeness of Reno picking her up and such became normal. He started coming with her for lunch, and, before she realized it, he was _paying_ for her lunch. Not that it was a bad thing. It was just strange.

The next night was the ball, and frankly, Yuffie was nervous. Reno and Elena had taught her some of the dances she couldn't remember, but she didn't want to embarrass the WRO.

She didn't want to embarrass Reeve.

She groaned again. Reeve Reeve Reeve. Everything seemed to revolve around him. Shouldn't she be like this about _Reno_? Y'know, her boyfriend? Not her boss who had a girlfriend?

Finally, Yuffie just decided to give up. She obviously couldn't help feeling this way, and she felt guilty about being with Reno if she felt nothing for him. It hadn't even been a _week_ yet. She held her head in her hands. She really was hopeless.

**---r-e-e-f-i-e---**

"Yuffie? Elena?" Reno called from Yuffie's doorway.

"Just a minute!" he heard Elena yell back. "I'm just finishing up Yuffie's new look!"

Reno could distantly hear Yuffie grumbling, and he started to laugh.. He shut up instantly when he saw her.

Yeah, he knew she was a princess, but he'd never seen her all cleaned up. She looked stunning. The dress hugged her slender figure and complimented her beautifully. He eyes found the circle of diamonds pendant around her neck, and he smiled.

"Isn't that Elena's?" he teased. She blushed. The Turk pulled her close to him and kissed her forehead. He leaned close to her ear. "You look amazing, Yuffie," he told her softly.

The pink flush on her cheeks darkened drastically. "Thanks," she whispered back. "I'd tell you the same, but you always wear that suit."

"And I look even better in it everyday," he sighed. "It's a curse."

She laughed and punched him in the arm.

"Well, if you two are done flirting," Elena started. "We should leave."

The couple looked at each other guiltily and walked out to Reno's car, Elena trailing behind them.

**---r-e-e-f-i-e---**

Frankly, Yuffie felt slightly uncomfortable. She had been talking to strangers all night, and now she was bored with it. It had been fine when Reno had been with her, but with him on duty with Rufus, she suddenly had no one to talk to.

Rufus's voice drifted to her. "Why don't you dance with my lovely cousin, Mr. Kiwakei? I'm sure she'd be delighted to give you the honor."

Yuffie looked up to see Julia being led onto the dance floor by another of Rufus's clients, and she didn't look happy. She watched Julia dance with the older man with a smile on her face. Distantly, she wondered where Reeve was. She hadn't seen him all evening, she realized.

Her question was answered when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Reeve!" she exclaimed happily. "It's great to see ya! How are you?"

"I'm fantastic, Yuffie," the man replied with a smile. "You?"

"Preeeeeeeetty good," Yuffie told him cheerfully.

"Dance?" he offered, holding out his hand. Yuffie took it with a smile. The pair swept onto the floor. "You look beautiful tonight, by the way," he murmured when the song allowed them to be close.

"Thank you. So do you!" she replied. The pair finished their dance, and they couldn't take their eyes off one another, so they danced again. Yuffie felt slightly guilty. After all, she did have a boyfriend, but this felt so, at the risk of sounding cliche, _right_. When Reno held her, it felt nothing like this.

The song ended, and the pair seperated. Reeve bowed, and Yuffie attempted a curtsy. "Thank you for the lovely dances, Yuffie," Reeve said graciously, his eyes zoned in on her face.

Yuffie flushed. "You're very welcome, Reeve. I enjoyed them."

She watched sadly as he went back to Julia. She sighed and started to walk in the other direction, only to be yanked into Reno's chest.

"Reno!" she yelped, surprised.

"Yuffie, I wanted you to knowthatIsawyouwithReeveandIthinkyoutwoareagreatcoupleandwe'redone."

Yuffie blinked. "Say that again?"

"You. Reeve. Should be a couple. I'm breaking up with you so that you two can have each other," Reno explained.

"He has Julia. He doesn't want or need me," Yuffie whispered bitterly.

"If you had seen the way he looked at you compared to the way he looks at her, you wouldn't say that," Reno told her softly. She smiled at him.

"Thank you, Reno," she whispered. "I think I'm going home," she told him. He nodded, his aqua eyes worried.

With one last smile and wave, the lithe ninja walked out the door.

**---r-e-e-f-i-e---**

Yuffie walked out the door and pulled out her cell phone to call Tifa for a ride home when someone cleared their throat behind her. Mystified, the brunette turned around to stare into Julia's furious eyes.

"I thought I told you to stay away from him," she hissed.

"I was just dancing with him," Yuffie told her flatly. "Nothing more."

"It doesn't matter," Julia snarled. "All that matters is that you are messing with my ticket to fame."

"Oh, nice to know you care about him so much!" Yuffie growled. She felt herself angering.

"I care about him enough to know that you need to stay away!" Julia snapped. "You'd do nothing but mess it all up for him! I understand this world. You don't. Back. Off." Yuffie and Julia locked angry gazes.

Yuffie answered with one word. "No."

"You are nothing. You may be a princess, but you certainly don't act or look like one," Julia told her, putting her nose in the air. "You aren't good enough for him, and I need this company. It's my way of showing my family that I _can_ make it on my own. So, seriously, just go jump off a bridge or something because nobody wants you here."

With a haughty look, Julia turned to walk away. She stopped when a pair of hands gripped her shoulders. With wide, shocked eyes, her gaze met Reeve's chocolate brown eyes.

* * *

**A/N: oooooooooh... Julia's in trouble! hehe. I love her. She's so much fun to write. Fun to hate, y'know? Anyway, wanted to say thanks for all the reviews and tell you guys how much I appreciate them. We're getting close to the end here. I'd guess about 10 chapters. Something like that. Thanks for reading and please review. **


	8. Knight in Shining Armor

**Disclaimer: I should make up a song... but I suck at songwriting, so I won't, but I don't own this. **

* * *

"Re-Reeve!" Julia stuttered, a suddenly fearful look overcoming her face. She quickly brushed it off and replaced it with a smile though. "Darling, how nice of you to join us!" She tried to sidle up to him, but he moved away from her.

"Julia," he started solumnly. "What is going on? You're getting one chance to explain."

"Oh, Reeve, darling," she whispered. "I'm so sorry. I got a little out of hand. I'm afraid I've been feeling a little jealous of Yuffie. Oh, my, Yuffie, I'm so terribly sorry!"

Yuffie gave her a look of absolute disbelief. A thousand thoughts and memories ran through her head in that moment of silence. All her good times with Reeve, and how happy he seemed with Julia... before Yuffie had stepped between them. She felt intensely guilty. She may have a crush on Reeve, but if she really cared about him, she'd let him go. She opened her mouth to accept the apology before what Reno had said flashed across her thoughts.

_"If you had seen the way he looked at you compared to the way he looks at her, you wouldn't say that."_

Reno had been sincere when he said that. It made Yuffie wonder, but she didn't know what to do. The petite woman hesitated. "I'm sorry too, Julia," Yuffie said gently. "We were both out of line, and I accept your apology."

Julia smiled thankfully at her, but the woman's eyes were still angry. "I knew you'd understand Yuffie. After all I'm sure _you_have felt jealousy before," Julia said innocently. The smug Shinra blue eyes met Yuffie's Wutai gray ones. "Haven't we all?" Yuffie replied, grinding her teeth. "It was lovely seeing you both again," she forced out, "but I was just leaving. Goodbye Julia. See ya at work, Reeve."

With that the furious young woman stomped off. She wandered down the street before feeling tears pricking at her eyes. She rubbed at them angrily. That _bitch_! Yuffie was furious with herself for allowing their relationship to continue, but she couldn't bring herself to break Reeve's heart so that _she_ could try to get him.

With a sigh, she dug out her phone. She speed-dialed Tifa. It was late, but she needed a ride home, and Tifa would probably be working anyways.

"...'lo?" came the tired answer.

"Hey, Teef," Yuffie said softly, feeling her voice wobble. "Can you come pick me up?"

"Right now?" the brunette questioned.

"Yeah, I left early. There were... some problems," Yuffie said with a sniffle. She wanted to punch something, but she wanted to cry too. She was so confused.

"Oh, honey!" Tifa exclaimed, hearing the sniffle. Her motherly instincts must have kicked in, and she was in caring mode. "Of course I will! Where are you? You can stay the night too, and I'll drive you home in the morning because I'm afraid I don't have time..."

"Oh, that's fine," Yuffie agreed. "I don't wanna make life even HARDER for you!" She tried to make her voice cheerful, but she found that it didn't work very well. She gave Tifa the street names and settled down on a nearby bench to wait.

Yuffie started at the sound of footsteps. A group of men was walking towards her. She stared off into the distance and hoped they ignored her. After all, Tifa was coming here. She couldn't just leave.

The men were making her nervous though. They were laughing drunkenly, and they were _big_. Yuffie was a pretty good fighter, but all she had her know were some kunai, and she was in a long dress. Plus, she was outnumbered by a_lot_. She prayed to whatever listening god that they would pass.

Did they?

Of course not.

She thought she was safe until one of them spotted her and nudged his friend. The pair walked over to her, swaying.

"Hey, babe," one of them slurred. "How are you this fine evenin'?"

"I'd be better if you left," she said icily. Probably not the best thing to say, but, hey, Yuffie was never very good at tact.

"Hey now," the other man said, his voice raising enough that the rest of the group turned to stare. "Let's be nice," he said, obviously in what he thought was a sexy voice. Not.

"It'd be nice if you went away," Yuffie said sweetly, fingering the kunai in her puse.

"Aw, c'mon, beautiful. Just come with us, and..." the man reached for her arm. Yuffie's hand instantly flew out with the sharp weapon.

"Let. Go. Of. Me," she gritted out.

The rest of the men closed in, and Yuffie felt panic rising. Not good.

"Hey, you can't treat him that way," the biggest man, the leader, she assumed, said.

"We'll make sure it doesn't hurt too much," another man snickered. "You might even enjoy it," he added as he also reached for her. She jumped backwards and tripped over the hem of her dress. She hurriedly reached down and started hacking at her dress so it was knee length. This was more difficult then it sounded since the fabric had no interest in cutting and the men were moving closer. Eventually, she ripped it.

Such a lovely dress... wasted. That was all she had time to think before the men leapt at her. Yuffie felt them tugging at her hair and her dress. Yuffie fought back, but whenever one man seemed to fall, another one would leap to take his place. She hadn't thought there were this many people! She couldn't help it. She screamed.

A gunshot went off overhead. One of the men scrambled away, holding the scrape on his arm that the bullet had given him. The rest looked up to see the six most welcome people Yuffie had ever seen.

"Get away from her," Reeve growled, leveling out his pistol for another shot. Reno braced himself to launch at them, Rude prepared himself to charge with his friend, and Elena, Tseng, and Rufus all were also aiming guns at the crew of men.

The group backed away from Yuffie slowly, and she pulled herself from the ground. The woman grabbed her purse off the ground and ran to Reeve. He wrapped his free arm around her and pulled her close. The ninja felt tears leaking out onto his dress shirt, but she felt _safe_. Her hands fisted his shirt as she buried her head in his chest. She had never been attacked or threatened sexually before. She let out a loud sniffle.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly. "They didn't hurt you did they?" There was an underlying threat in his voice. She shook her head against his chest. Footsteps ran up.

"Yuffie!" Tifa yelped. "Oh my gods! Are you okay?" Tifa examined the area and saw the Turks willing scaring off the rest of the men and Yuffie in Reeve's arms. "Is she okay?" she mouthed to Reeve. He nodded slightly, but he looked concerned.

"Let's get you home, Yuffie," he murmured, tilting her head so he could see her face. Tears streaked down the young woman's face. "I'll take her, Tifa, if that's okay?" he asked. Tifa nodded, her eyes concerned.

"She'll probably be more comfortable around you anyway," Tifa murmured, rubbing Yuffie's back. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay, Tifa," Yuffie sniffled. "I'm sorry you had to drive out here."

Tifa smiled. "It's all right, Yuffie. I don't mind." Tifa waved goodbye to Rufus and the Turks before leaving. She shot Yuffie one more concerned look over her shoulder as she got in the car, but she knew Reeve would take care of her.

"Um, Reeve, aren't we going out to dinner?" Julia pressured, prancing up to him.

"Sorry, Julia," he told her. "Yuffie needs me right now."

"Oh, well, that's fine. I'll just come with you!" Julia declared, a smile on her face.

Reeve shook his head again. "You two just fought. I'll call you tomorrow. Goodnight, Julia," he said distractedly before scooping up Yuffie into his arms and walking towards the parking lot.

Julia's icy eyes flared dangerously. She couldn't loose Reeve, not yet. Rufus walked past her smugly.

"Bad luck, Julia, but it looks like some else is more important tonight," he whispered in her ear before walking off, four satisified Turks behind him.

**---r-e-e-f-i-e---**

Yuffie must have fallen asleep, she realized as she felt herself being put down gently on something soft. Her eyes slid open and she recognized the couch as her own.

"Reeve?" she asked in surprise when her eyes opened.

"The one and only," he whispered reassuringly. "Are you really okay?" he asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I am. Just some... bad memories," Yuffie said with a shiver. "I need to take a shower," she declared suddenly.

Reeve raised an eyebrow but nodded. "Okay," he replied. "I'll make some... coffee? Hot chocolate?"

Yuffie forced a smile for him. "Hot chocolate please," she murmured. Reeve smiled and wandered to the kitchen to make the hot drink.

Yuffie rushed to her room and grabbed clothes before going to the bathroom and stepping into a steaming hot shower.

**---r-e-e-f-i-e---**

How could she!? Julia paced her room. Not only did Reeve instantly side with Yuffie, he was also her knight in shining armor! The brunette ran a hand through her thick hair.

"What should I do?" she wondered outloud. "I've already been the perfect girl, I've tried to get that _brat_ to back off... I could just eliminate her, I suppose, but that seems a bit extreme..." the woman's thoughts trailed off.

She'd think of something, she decided. At least right now, she still had the guy.

**---r-e-e-f-i-e---**

Yuffie walked back to her couch to see Reeve already there with two hot chocolates and the TV on. His eyes glanced at her before he patted the seat next to him. Yuffie slid onto it happily. At least Reeve was here, she reasoned.

The TV went off. Silence filled the room like a flood.

"Yuffie," Reeve murmured. "Do you want to tell me what really scared you tonight?" he asked. "You could've taken those guys, but you panicked." His eyes were intense, and they were focused completely on her. It filled her with delight, quite frankly.

Yuffie traced the rim of her mug with a fingertip. It was silent for a little longer, but Reeve waited. "I-I had a very close friend when I was younger," Yuffie whispered, sobering instantly. "We were very close, like sisters." An empty smile crept across the young woman's face.

It tore at Reeve's heart, and his arm found his way around her shoulders. She glanced at him before staring back down at her drink.

"She was wandering around, and she drifted into the wrong part of town. A group of men cornered her." Yuffie murmured.

Silence filled the room once more.

"She was gang-raped and killed," Yuffie whispered. Reeve looked at her in horror. "I've been afraid of large groups of men since then. After all, my friend, she was a ninja too, but they still took her down... so what if it happened to me...?" She put her hot chocolate down.

"It won't," Reeve said, almost violently. Yuffie jumped and stared at him. "I won't let it," he told her, his eyes flaring protectively. She met the eyes that she had so desperately been trying to avoid and she fell in.

The pair stared at each other intensely, and Yuffie was completely focused on the two pools of chocolate that looked at her as if... as if she was something delicate and important that needed to be protected. She felt immensely special. No one thought that she needed looking after, and it was nice to know that someone had her back.

She leaned forward subconciously, and she didn't notice him doing the same until his rough, chapped lips brushed her's. The pair pulled apart slightly, but they looked at each other and their lips touched again. Reeve's arm slid around her waist and the other hand buried itself in her hair. Her hands held onto his neck like he was her life support. She _needed_ him. Damn... she was screwed. They pulled apart again, and Reeve stared at her with such intensity that Yuffie felt herself blushing. He gently rubbed her check with the back of his hand and voiced Yuffie's thought. "Oh, shit," he murmured, "I think I'm falling for you."

* * *

**A/N: So there is some Reefie goodness for you. -winces- not sure I like how it came out though... Oh well. This one is extra long because I won't be back 'til next Thursday (updates-wise), so be happy for the long chapter. Thanks for reading, and please review! **


	9. Heartbreak

**DISCLAIMER!: NO! I DON'T OWN IT! Otherwise, Reeve and Yuffie would already be happily married. hehe.**

* * *

Yuffie rested her forehead against Reeve's gently. "That's okay," she murmured. "'cause I'm falling for you too." Her silver eyes met his shyly.

"Yeah, but, Yuffie, I have a girlfriend already," he told her. He pulled away and ran a hand through his hair. "I just cheated on her." He groaned.

"Reeve," Yuffie whispered, sounding heartbroken. He looked at her pleadingly. Unsurely, she cupped his cheek and pulled him down for another soft kiss. "Reeve," she whispered against his lips.

He let out a content moan in return and pulled her against himself. His tongue gently traced her lips, and she opened them to allow him to explore her mouth. Her tongue twined around his, and she let out a soft moan.

Only to be interrupted by an annoying ringing noise. Reeve pulled away from her and pulled his phone from his pocket.

"Hello?" he asked, sounding slightly breathless. "Oh, Julia," he replied after the person spoke. Yuffie sighed. Did Julia just love ruining her life or something?

"How are you, darling?" he asked. Yuffie sent him a reproachful look. "Yes, I'm still at Yuffie's house. Yes, I'm safe. Yes, she's doing fine." Reeve glanced at her apologentically. "Julia. Julia. JULIA!" he yelled, and he calmed when she stopped talking. "We need to talk in person, okay? How about we meet at the cafe? For breakfast. Is that okay? All right. I'll talk to you later then. Goodbye."

Yuffie regarded him unsurely. "Well?" she asked. "Is it me or her?" Her heartbeat pounded in her ears.

"Yuffie, I'm not sure," he told her, running his hand through his hair again. "Yes, you're wonderful, but Julia is too. She beautiful, smart, understanding..."

"She's using you!" Yuffie burst out. "She told me so!"

"What?"

"She said you were "her ticket" to get to the top," Yuffie told him. "She doesn't care about you."

"Yuffie," Reeve said angrily. "I know you're jealous and want me to break up with her, but you shouldn't be _lying_ about things she said!"

"I'm not lying!" Yuffie cried desperately.

"I find that hard to believe. Julia isn't like that, Yuffie," he hissed. Reeve got up and gathered his coat before slipping his feet into his shoes. "I'll be in touch," he told her. The Wutain princess felt tears start down her face.

"Reeve!" Yuffie sobbed. "Don't do this! I wouldn't lie to you about this!"

Reeve glanced at her one last time before walking out the door. "Goodbye Yuffie."

The young woman dissolved into tears.

**---r-e-e-f-i-e---**

"Hello. This is Emperor Kisaragi Godo speaking. How may I help you, Miss Markov?"

"Ah, please, call me Julia," the woman spoke into the phone, her voice sugar-sweet.

"All right then, Julia, how may I help you?"

"Well, you see, Yuffie is working in the World Regenesis Organization under Mr. Reeve Tuesti. As one of the Shinra Family, I was simply calling to express my concerns about her line of work," Julia told him, her voice filled with false concern.

"Why would you be worried, Julia?" Godo asked, interest filling his voice.

"She is the head of the Department of Intelligence and Espionage, and it is a very dangerous post. She and Mr. Tuesti didn't think twice about the post because of Yuffie's incredible abilities, but my cousin, Mr. Shinra, and myself worry that you will lose your heir."

There was silence on the other end of the line.

"Thank you, Miss Markov. I will see what I can do," Godo replied finally.

"No, thank _you_, Emperor Kisaragi. If Yuffie were to be seriously injured or killed while working for our company, it would most certainly strain the peace our two countries have managed to create. Goodbye, Emperor Kisaragi."

Godo mumbled a reply back, and Julia hung up her phone with a smug look on her face. She'd like to see Yuffie go for Reeve while being paired up with a new husband, the woman thought happily.

**---r-e-e-f-i-e---**

Yuffie was curled up on her couch. It was late, but she had cried out all her tears. Now she could only stare blankly at the wall.

She had told him the truth. Did he just not want to hear it? Yuffie had thought she was doing the right thing, but obviously not. What did she have to do to make things work? Another tear slid down her face. She wiped it away angrily. She would NOT cry. Not anymore. She didn't need a man! If he couldn't realize how amazing she was (she was the White Rose of Wutai after all), then he didn't deserve her!

**---r-e-e-f-i-e---**

It didn't take long for the letter from Wutai to reach her. Yuffie glanced up from her paperwork at the sound of her secretary walking in.

"Hello, Amber!" Yuffie said cheerfully. "Mail for me?"

Amber laughed gently. "Yes, Miss Kisaragi." The blond woman handed her an envelope.

"How many times do I have to ask ya to call me Yuffie, Amber?" Yuffie teased. Amber simply smiled at her and left.

The brunette looked down at her letter. The sending address read the same as any other letter she might get, but the return address made her heart stop.

_Emperor Kisaragi Godo_

_The Wutain Palace_

She could've laughed at the fact that he only had to put that as a return address, but she was worried. It was nearing her twenty-fifth birthday, and that was the day that she was supposed to return to Wutai to prepare for marriage and taking over her country. What if this was the letter ordering her home?

She opened it with dread.

_My dearest daughter,_

_I would like to send you my love and tell yout that Wutai has reclaimed much of it's former glory. All the materia you sent has greatly helped in recovering our old traditions. We are all thankful. _

_On that note, I would like to bring up the way you got your materia. It has come to my attention that your line of work is extremely dangerous to your health, and you are my only heir. As it is nearing your twenty-fifth birthday, the council and I have decided that it is time for you to return. Please come as quickly as possible so that you may have more time to meet your suitors and prepare for your marriage. _

_Sincerely,_

_Godo_

_Your father and Emperor of Wutai_

Yuffie stared at the letter in shock. She had to get _married_?! Ah, shit.

**---r-e-e-f-i-e---**

Julia was sitting on Reeve's lap talking avidly to him. They had breakfast together, and Julia had been in a good mood ever since.

**KNOCK!**

Reeve looked up at the knock on his door. Julia swiftly got up to open the door.

"Oh, Yuffie! What a surprise!" she said sweetly. "How can we help you?"

"Reeve, I need to speak with you about getting some time off," Yuffie said awkwardly.

"Anything you need to say can be said in front of Julia," he told her, his voice frosty.

"Oh, okay. I just wanted to let you know that I've been called back to Wutai, and I'm leaving soon," she whispered sadly.

"Oh."

Silence filled Reeve's office.

"I'll just be leaving then," Yuffie told him. "Consider this my resignation." With that, the young woman stole out the door. She sped up until she was running, tears falling soundlessly down her face.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks everyone for all the reviews and support. I put a lot of thought into this chapter to get things moving again, so I hope you like it. And thanks to everyone who talked to me about my dog's death and let me cry to them. This story is now dedicated to him. Please R and R.  
**


	10. Back Home

**DISCLAIMER: Nope... still don't.**

* * *

Yuffie looked around her room once more

Yuffie looked around her room once more. "You'll send all my stuff, right, Tifa?"

The older woman looked at her sadly. "Of course, Yuffie. I'll send Cid with it."

"And you'll come for my wedding?"

At this Tifa smiled, but it looked forced. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Yuffie smiled at her long-time friend, tears filling her eyes. She hurriedly swiped at them. "Sorry," she started. "I'm just gonna miss you guys."

Tifa pulled her into a tight hug. "We'll miss you too," she assured her. "At least you're showing up in style, right?"

Yuffie snifled and nodded. Tifa guided her outside and towards the helicopter sitting in her parking lot. The ninja got inside the helicopter and sat down, her expression blank, as Tifa sent Reno and Rude inside to gather Yuffie's bags.

The bartender hugged Yuffie a last time. "Make sure you call or write or something, okay? I want to know all about the stuff you do to get ready."

Yuffie forced a smile. She knew Tifa was trying to make this sound as if it was a new, exciting adventure, and Yuffie appreciated that. However, the young woman didn't really care for getting married from a selection of rich men.

"Don't worry, Tifa. I'll make sure to tell you everything," Yuffie told her, hugging her harder. "And tell everyone that I can't wait to see them again."

"Can do," Tifa assured her as she backed away from the 'copter. The rotors of the helicopter started spinning. Tifa continued to wave even as the machine lifted off the ground and flew away.

A comforting arm slid around Yuffie's shoulders. The princess looked up at Elena. "Why couldn't Cid drive me?" Yuffie asked.

"Rufus wanted to use this as another peace-thingy," Elena told her with a roll of her eyes. Yuffie nodded, and for the rest of the trip to Wutai, she remained silent.

**--r-e-e-f-i-e--**

"Yuffie." A hand shook her shoulder. The woman jumped. She hadn't even realized that she was asleep. "We're here."

Yuffie looked up at Elena. "Oh. Okay."

"Reno and Rude have already greeted the welcoming committee and they're unloading your stuff," she told her softly. "I wanted to say goodbye before you go. Make sure you keep in touch, okay?" she asked, hugging Yuffie tightly.

"Bye Elena," Yuffie sniffled, hugging her back.

Wiping her eyes for the second time that day, Yuffie left the helicopter and walked towards the palace. Elena tagged behind her, and Yuffie realised that she would have to be professional in her goodbyes in front of the Royal Household.

Sure enough, when the pair reached the greeting committee, Elena turned to her and bowed slightly.

"It has been an honor Princess Kisaragi," the woman said softly.

"It was an honor to work with the Turks and Mr. Shinra," Yuffie replied politely, nodding at Elena.

"Princess," Rude and Reno spoke simulateously. The pair bowed, and Yuffie nodded regally in reply. Secretly, she was delighted that she remembered the small details of how to act as a princess.

Yuffie was greeted enthusiastically but very respectfully by her welcoming committee. She was guided inside the palace and shown to her new room. No sooner had the door closed then a shy voice whispered a name.

"Miss Yuffie?"

Yuffie spun around, the voice striking a chord in her memory. A small Wutainese woman stood behind her. She was a little older then Yuffie, and there was nothing particularly special with her appearance, but at the sight of her, Yuffie's face broke into a wide smile.

"Aina!" the woman screeched. The pair leaped towards each other, hugging fiercely. "How are you? I didn't know that you would still be working here!"

Aina laughed. "I wasn't working here, but when they asked me if I'd like to be your maid again, I had to accept. I'm acually married now!"

"Married?! To who?!"

Aina giggled. "Remember that stable boy that used to fancy me?"

"No!"

The pair laughed and exchanged news from over the years. Yuffie hadn't seen her friend and maid since she had left to look for materia. It was wonderful to see her again. The pair talked until a knock rang out from the door.

"Come in!" Yuffie yelled.

"Miss Yuffie," the woman said with a sigh, opening the door. "I know you were taught better then that."

"Suzu?" Yuffie gasped. "It's been so long since I've seen you!"

"Yes, yes," Suzu said impatiently. "I'm well aware, milady. However, I'm simply here to tell you that I shall be serving dinner in an hour, and you are to dine with your father."

Yuffie smiled. The kitchenmaid had always acting harsh, but she was a softie at heart. In fact, Suzu was the person who would sneak Yuffie snacks at night.

"I will be there!" Yuffie declared cheerfully. The kitchenmaid's face brightened with a fond smile, but she merely nodded and left.

"Time to get you ready then, milady!" Aina declared. "Only an hour! It's a good thing I asked to have a bath run for you before dinner."

**--r-e-e-f-i-e--**

Yuffie fidged in her kimono. It was made from the finest silk and was the color of the clear sky. It was accented with white flowers scattered over the fabric and a white obi. Aina finished the simple makeup and allowed Yuffie to finally look in the mirror.

"Wow…" Yuffie said, startled.

"You forgot how lovely you look in a kimono, huh?" the young woman asked her mistress.

Yuffie smiled at her. "I suppose I have to go to dinner then, huh?" Aina nodded and led her to the dining hall.

When the pair reached the area, Godo stood to greet them.

"Yuffie, my daughter," he murmured. "Welcome home. You look beautiful."

"Thank you father," Yuffie replied stiffly.

"Yuffie," the emperor said suddenly. "You have come home. As you know, your wedding is coming up, so I have selected a choice of possible husbands. I know it is soon, but I would like you to meet your first suitor, Lord Dazai."

A tall, well-dressed man walked into the room. "Emperor Kisaragi," he said politely, turning to Godo. When he turned to Yuffie, she saw that he was extremely good looking, and she felt a blush start to cover her face. "Princess Kisaragi," he added.

Just the way he said that made the small attraction vanish. A smirk had found it's way across his face, and she felt replulsed. She could tell from his tone that he knew he was good looking, and that he expected her to fall at his feet.

She suffered through dinner. "Lord Dazai" was a jerk, plain and simple. When he finally bid his goodbyes, Yuffie immediately turned to her father.

"I'm not gonna marry him, so I hope you have a plan B," she informed him coldly. His face fell. "He was the richest, wasn't he?"

Godo sighed, but nodded.

"I can't wait to meet the next one," Yuffie said with fake cheerfulness. She turned and walked back to her room in a huff, Aina trailing behind her.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah... I basically hated this chapter. I needed it to start it moving though. Next chapter. Next chapter will be better. I promise. Oh, and btw, this is now my most popular story with 1117 hits and 81 reviews! I'm so happy... especially since that's only in 9 chapters, and I'm still going! Thank you to those who have encouraged me and helped me through. Please, I know people are reading this, so R and R, especially if you have it on alert and haven't reviewed.  
**


	11. The Things Sunrises Cause

**DISCLAIMER: Nope, nope, nope... but my birthday is coming up, maybe then i will.**

* * *

"Well, at least you still have other guys to pick from, right?" Tifa's voice drifted through the phone.

"Yeah, Yuffie. Hopefully _one_ of them will be decent," Elena chimed.

The first thing Yuffie had done after getting back to her room was three-way her friends.

"I guess," she said listlessly. "I hope one of them is nice, at least."

"Yuffie, don't worry about... RENO! STOP IT!"

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeello?" a new voice asked.

"Hi, Reno," Tifa and Yuffie chorused.

"Oooh, a three-way. I can do that," Reno told them, his voice seductive.

"Reno, shut up and give the phone to Elena," Yuffie told him with a sigh.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, suddenly worried. "You don't sound right."

Distantly, they heard Elena still yelling for her phone. Yuffie felt a smile spreading across her face.

"Nothing's wrong, Reno," she assured him. "Hey, guys? I gotta go. Aina is trying to tell me something. Bye." The princess hung up her phone and put it on her bedside table. "I miss them, Aina."

Aina smiled sadly. "I know, milady. At least you'll see them eventually, right?"

Yuffie sat down on her bed with a sigh. "Are all the guys like that? Have you met them all?" she asked hopefully, looking at her friend.

"Sorry, ma'am, but no, I haven't met any of them."

Yuffie sighed again and allowed Aina to help her out of the beautiful kimono and under kimono. Yuffie slid into the waiting nightgown and climbed into her bed.

"Aina," she called after her maid had turned the lights out.

"Yes, milady?" she replied.

"Can you wake me to see the sunset please? I want to go for a walk."

"Of course, milady."

**--r-e-e-f-i-e--**

As promised, Yuffie was awoken in time to see the sunrise. Yuffie tried to convince Aina to let her wear her shorts, but she was not allowed. Instead, Yuffie found herself outside in a knee-long informal kimono. She smoothed the deep purple fabric as she walked, and she was grateful for the shorter length.

...She still wanted her shorts though.

Yuffie stopped suddenly. "Leave me," she commanded the guards softly.

"Milady?" the pair asked, surprised. Yuffie wanted to rub her temples. These two weren't her regular guards, and they didn't understand her yet.

"I am perfectly capable at taking care of myself, boys. I need some alone time."

They looked at each other, mystified, but an order from the future empress was an order, so they left. Yuffie stood, frozen, for about a minute before continuing forwards.

She wandered through the garden. She had missed this, she found. Yes, Yuffie had enjoyed the freedom of traveling with AVALANCHE and being with Tifa, Reeve, and Marlene... but this was her home. She glanced over the trees to see the sunrise and crashed into someone.

"I'm so sorry," the man instantly said apologetically. "I should watch where I'm walking." Yuffie glanced up at him and saw a typical Wutain man with short dark brown hair that flopped over his eyes. Typical _good-looking_ man anyways.

"It's fine," Yuffie told him, starting to get to her feet. A hand fell into her line of vision, palm up. She gently took it and was pulled to her feet. A soft gasp escaped her mouth when she tripped over her own feet and landed against his chest.

She felt the rumble of his laugh through his chest as a blush covered his face. She straighted to see a pair of gray-green eyes staring at her intensely.

"Are you all right, Miss?" he asked concernedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she assured him. "Would you like to walk with me?" she asked suddenly. A surprised expression crossed his face, and Yuffie was shocked with herself. Why did she just ask that? she mentally berated herself.

"I would love too, but I have to go. I apologize, really. Perhaps we'll run into each other later?" he suggested hopefully. Yuffie smiled at him.

"All right. Sounds good," she said cheerfully. He took her hand and kissed her fingers gently before taking off again.

**--r-e-e-f-i-e--**

"Okay, Miss Yuffie," Aina started as Yuffie was dressed in a more formal kimono for lunch. "You're meeting another suitor with your father for lunch, then you have to go pick out your design for your wedding kimono, then you have to go review wedding plans, and finally you have dinner with your father and different suitor."

"Oh, wow," Yuffie murmured. "Thats pretty packed. Dad really wants me to pick out my guy, doesn't he?" she asked.

"I prefer to think that he wants you meet them all quickly so you have more time to choose," Aina corrected. "All done," she told her triumphantly. "Off to lunch with you."

Yuffie rolled her eyes and smiled, heading into the hallway. Her guards, Haru and Juro, smiled their approval at her clothing. She remembered them distantly from before she left. They had been her guards then too.

"Lets go, boys," she ordered playfully. She took off down the hallway. Her kimono for today's lunch was red with white butterflies on it and a white obi with red designs.

Before she went in the door, she took a deep breath to compose herself. Her posture straightened, her shoulders pulled back, and she lifted her chin. She was a princess, she might as well look like one.

**--r-e-e-f-i-e--**

Yuffie fiddled with the edge of her obi as Aina collected different kimonos from around the shop. Her maid finally set down a stack of them on the chair next to the princess.

"So how was lunch, milady?" Aina asked as she laid out the kimonos for Yuffie pick from. "I like the last one one the left best," she added, motioning to the beautiful white kimono with gold flowers on it.

"It was terrible," Yuffie replied, examining the kimono in question. "Lord Saito was better at least. He was very quiet until Godo started talking about, get this, accounts. The guy is obsessed with accounting. Like that's not super boring, or anything."

Aina stiffled a giggle in response. "One of them will be decent, milady," she assured her.

"I hope so," Yuffie sighed. "I like that kimono best too," she agreed finally.

"All right then!" Aina declared. "Put it on, and I'll pin it."

**--r-e-e-f-i-e--**

"All right, Miss Yuffie," the wedding planner, Ito-san, started. "We're just picking who you want to invite today. Emperor Kisaragi has already provided me with a list of lords and such to invite, so all that is left are your personal guests."

"All right, I would like to invite Tifa Lockheart, Cloud Strife, Barret Wallace, Vincent Valentine, Nanaki of Cosmo Canyon, Cid and Shera Highwind, Rufus Shinra..." Yuffie paused. The woman looked shocked. "What?"

"You want to invite _Shinra_?" she spat out the name like a curse.

Yuffie eyes narrowed. "Yes. I do. He was become a far better person then his father ever was, and he is making an effort to fix the problems he created. Do not speak badly of him again." Yuffie expression instantly became more pleasant. "Anyways, I would also like to invite Reeve Tuesti. Tell them that they are all allowed to bring whomever they wish."

"Are you sure that is a good idea, Princess?" the woman said with forced politeness. "They might bring people who... do not belong at a royal wedding."

Yuffie gave her a icy smile in return. "They will not. If it makes you feel better though, you may put that they can bring family only."

The woman nodded unhappily. "That is all today, Princess."

Yuffie nodded and left.

**--r-e-e-f-i-e--**

"Hey, Aina?" Yuffie asked as the maid was styling her hair.

"Yes, milady?"

"How many suitors did my father pick?"

"Originally," the woman started, "he had wanted ten. He wanted you have someone your age, give or take five years, they had to be the eldest son, they had to be decent looking, and they had to be a lord. Apparently it is extremely hard to find someone like that who isn't already married or engaged."

"So how many do I have to pick from now?" Yuffie asked again.

"Three. There were five, but one of them was banished from his family. The other died in a crash."

"So you're telling me that the guy I meet tonight is my last choice?"

"Yes. You're hair is done, and you're ready to go!" Aina said finally. "Ooh, I do love that kimono!"

Yuffie smiled. It was light blue with a darker blue dragon on it, and the obi was the same color blue as the dragon. "I like it too, Aina. Wish me luck!" she called as she walked out the door.

**--r-e-e-f-i-e--**

"Hello, Father," Yuffie greeted formally as she walked into the room. Godo was facing her as he talked to the suitor, who was faced away fromt the princess.

"Ah! My lovely daughter!" he greeted. "I would like to introduce you to Lord Kato."

The man turned around and his eyes widened in surprise. It was _him_, Yuffie thought as her own eyes widened drastically.

"You're the princess?" he asked in shock. "Sorry, I didn't mean for that to sound so rude," he hurriedly corrected. "I was just surprised, but I suppose those were the Royal Gardens and..." He closed his mouth once he realized he was babbling.

"Oh, you've met my daughter before?" Godo asked with a frown.

"Yes, Father. We bumped into each other in the gardens this morning. It is lovely to see you again, Lord Kato," she said brightly. He smiled shyly back at her. She missed her father's delighted look. "Shall we have dinner?" she suggested.

* * *

**A/N: Hello again! Oh, I like this guy. Oh, and btw, I haven't forgotten about Marlene's bday party in case anyone was wondering. It will come up next chapter. Reeve will be in the next chapter as well. Oh, and MedliR found me a song that fits this story PERFECTLY. It would be Yuffie singing it to Reeve and it's called "One Way or Another" by Kate Voegele. You should look it up. Thanks to my two new alerters, but if you could review, it would be wonderful. I'm aiming for over a hundred reviews for this baby. Hope you enjoyed. thanks for reading, please review!  
**


	12. The Party

**DISCLAIMER!: nope, nope, nope...**

* * *

Marlene was delighted that Reeve could come to her party. Really, she was, but she honestly didn't like his girlfriend. Neither did "Sister". She wished Yuffie could come though.

Tifa had told the little girl that Yuffie was engaged and had to stay in Wutai to get ready for the wedding. That had been a week ago. She also said that Yuffie would give Marlene her present there, but Marlene just wanted to see Yuffie.

The ninja was like an older sister to the little girl, and she missed her.

Denzel smiled reassuringly at her and squeezed her hand. "It's okay, Marly," he murmured. "Just enjoy today. It's your birthday party after all! Everybody else is here!"

She smiled at that. It was true. Daddy was here, and even Vincent and Cloud came. Tifa had been really happy to see Cloud. It made Marlene happy to see Tifa so happy. She had gotten really good presents too.

The door to Tifa's bar burst open.

"Hey, is this party still going?" a perky voice asked.

"YUFFIE!" Marlene shrieked, charging at the ninja.

"Hello!" Yuffie greeted, grabbing the girl and swinging her around. She gently put the little girl down.

"So is this the famous Marlene?" a friendly voice asked. "Yuffie wouldn't shut up about you."

"Oh be quiet. Honestly," Yuffie said with a roll of her eyes.

"Is that your fiance, Yuffie?" Marlene asked curiously.

"Yep. This is Akio," Yuffie said, and he reached to hold her hand. "Hello everyone! I'd like you to meet Akio Kato, my fiance."

Surprise was on everyone's face. Most looked delighted at her news. Yuffie felt her eyes slide to Reeve and Julia. Reeve looked shocked, and Julia looked smug for some reason.

"Hi," Tifa said, leaping forward to break the silence. "I'm Tifa."

"Hello, Tifa," he greeted. This caused Elena and Reno (Rufus's guards for the day) to rush forwards and introduce themselves as well. Poor Akio was then dragged around and introduced to everyone.

"Hey, Marlene," Yuffie said quietly. "Guess what I have!"

"What?" Marlene asked excitedly.

"You're present, silly! It is _your _party after all!" Yuffie said brightly. The princess pulled a wrapped package out of her bag and handed it to the little girl. Marlene wripped the paper off and found a beautiful pink kimono underneath.

"I get a pretty dress like you wear?" the child asked in surprise. She stared up at Yuffie.

"Yep! I was hoping you'd wear it at my wedding," Yuffie told her hopefully.

"Of course I will!" Marlene said excitedly. "I'm gonna go put it on!" With that, Marlene ran upstairs to put on the garment. Yuffie smiled and went over to greet her friends.

**--r-e-e-f-i-e--**

"You ready to leave, Yuffie?" Akio asked.

"Leave?" Tifa asked.

"Yeah, we're gonna find a hotel around here," Yuffie started.

"Nonsense," the martial-artist said instantly. "You'll stay here. As long as you don't mind sharing a room."

"I don't care," Yuffie said.

"But, Yuffie, it's improper to..."

"Akio, are you going to tell?" He shook his head. Yuffie smiled. "Nobody else will either. We don't have to have sex or anything, it's just sharing a room. We can even seperate the beds if you want."

"Okay," he said finally.

"Here," Tifa told him. "You and I can take Yuffie's bags upstairs."

"Hey, Yuffie," Reeve said once Tifa and Akio were gone.

"Hello Reeve," she replied coolly. "Shouldn't you be with your girlfriend?"

"She had to leave, but I wanted to stay," he said softly. "Yuffie, we need to talk."

"We have nothing to talk about, Reeve."

"Yes we do," he told her firmly. "We parted on bad terms, and I don't want that. You're still one of my close friends, and I don't want to lose that. I missed talking to you."

Yuffie smiled slightly. "Yeah, same here. I just thought you were really mad at me, so I didn't want to call you."

Cue awkward silence.

"So, uh, Akio, right? He seems nice," Reeve started.

"He is. I couldn't wish for a better husband out of an arranged marriage," Yuffie agreed.

"Seeing you two together really made me think about how different things could've been," Reeve said with a sigh.

"Yeah, different..." Yuffie said distractedly. "Look, Reeve, I really need to come to peace with this crush, okay?"

"Me too," he murmured. "Do you know any way to do that?"

"In romance novels they kiss goodbye forever, but I don't think that would really wor-"

Slightly chapped lips covered her own. Yuffie felt her gray eyes widen with shock before she kissed him back gently. After a few seconds, she pulled away, trying to stop the tears. She met his eyes. This was his way of saying goodbye... forever. She had no chance now. She was engaged, and now they could never be together, as cheesy as it sounded.

"Goodbye Reeve," she whispered before turning and running upstairs.

**--r-e-e-f-i-e--**

Yuffie had her face buried in her pillow. Tears leaked from her eyes. Although she had known before that they couldn't be together once she had gotten engaged to Akio, the romantic side of her still hoped.

"Hey, are you okay?" A hand rubbed her back softly. "Yuffie?"

She looked up at Akio. "Yeah," she sniffled. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not," he told her, "but if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. Oh, I got something for you." He reached for his coat and pulled something from his coat pocket. "I wanted to do this personally too, not just as an arranged marriage thing."

Yuffie looked at him curiously. He popped open the jewelry box in his hand to reveal a beautiful white gold ring with a cluster of emeralds in the center.

"Yuffie Kisaragi, will you marry me?" he asked sweetly.

"Of course I will," she told him, laughing slightly. He grinned and slid the ring on her finger. He stood, still holding her hand. To his surprise, she leaned up and kissed him softly. Yes, he was surprised, but that didnt' stop him from kissing her back gently. When they pulled apart, he smiled at her.

"Go to sleep, okay?" he asked.

"All right," she said, wiping her eyes on her shirt. She lay down in bed. "Goodnight, Akio."

"'Night, Yuffie."

**--r-e-e-f-i-e--**

"Morning, Yuffie!" Tifa greeted when the ninja showed up downstairs. "How was your slee- Oh MY GODS! What is on your hand?!"

"Huh?" came Yuffie's wonderful reply. Tifa had already tackled her.

"He got you a ring? He doesn't have to do that though, does he?"

"HE GOT YOU A RING!"

"AH! ELENA! Where did you come from?" Yuffie asked in shock as another person snatched her hand to examine the said ring.

"Rufus and Reeve are having breakfast over there," she motioned. "Tseng's here today, so you don't have to worry about Reno. Come on!"

Yuffie found herself being dragged over to Reeve and Rufus. "Hello guys," she said weakly.

"Hello, Yuffie," Rufus said politely. "Congratulations on your engagement."

"Thank you, sir," Yuffie murmured.

Rufus laughed. "Sir?" he asked. "Why, Yuffie, you and I are more like co-workers now. We can negotiate, if we wanted to. Beautiful ring, by the way."

"Ring?" Reeve said suddenly, staring at Yuffie's hand. "He gave you a ring?"

"Yes, he said it would seem more personal if he proposed to me normally as compared to an arranged marriage."Yuffie smiled at the pair. "No, if you'll excuse me, Akio is coming down to eat breakfast with me. See ya later."

With that, the ninja flounced off to eat with her fiance.

Rufus laughed once she was out of hearing range. "What a spitfire," he commented. "Too bad you couldn't get to her first, Reeve."

Reeve looked at him in surprise, "I'm sorry, Rufus?"

"You two would've been a lovely couple. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to be going. Lots of meetings today. Good day, Reeve."

With that the Shinra left Reeve alone with thoughts of Yuffie and Julia fighting in his head.

* * *

**A/N: Well, there is the party. Reeve meets Akio. Reeve and Yuffie are over apparently. I can't let the story end like that though! Some tweaking must be done! Anyway, I rather liked this chapter, and I hope you did too! If you read, please review. If you alert/fav this story, please review. Whoever is my 100th reviewer will get the next chapter dedicated to them, btw.  
**


	13. Boys are Dumb

**DISCLAIMER! : No, I don't... but maybe I'll get it for my birthday! -sigh- I doubt it.**

* * *

**DEDICATED TO LEO! MY 100TH REVIEWER!**

* * *

"Hey, Yuffie," Akio said as Yuffie pranced over to him.

"Hey," she replied brightly.

"You seem in a much better mood," he commented when she slid into the booth next to him. He casually put his arm around her shoulders. "Now, why would that be?"

"It must be the ring," Tifa said teasingly as she came over with their breakfasts. "I'd be excited too." Her expression turned wistful.

"Don't worry, Teef," Yuffie told her comfortingly. "Cloud will get around to it soon. I promise."

"I certainly hope so... well, enjoy your breakfast, guys."

Yuffie looked at the plate in front of her and squealed with delight. Chocolate chip pancakes. She wasn't allowed to have them in Wutai. Not "princess-y" enough or something stupid like that. Akio poked his pancakes suspiciously with a fork.

"What are these?" he whispered nervously.

"Chocolate chip pancakes," Yuffie whispered back, clearly delighted. "Here."

She cut a piece of her own pancakes and stabbed it with her fork before offering it to Akio. He gently bit the piece of food off and chewed it thoughtfully.

"Well?" Yuffie asked curiously.

His green eyes lit up. "These are delicious!" he declared before digging into his own pancakes. Yuffie laughed before following suit.

**--r-e-e-f-i-e--**

Reeve held his head in his hands with a sigh when Rufus was gone. What the business man had said kept running through Reeve's head. When had life gotten so complicated? Oh, right... when he had started going out with Julia, really. Rufus had never been very approving, but Reeve couldn't see why. He just assumed Rufus didn't like his cousin. Then Yuffie had told him that she liked him...

_"Too bad you couldn't get to her first, Reeve."_

_"You two would've been a lovely couple."_

_"That's okay 'cause I'm falling for you too."_

He looked up at the girl who had helped cause this massive headache he was getting and saw her feeding her fiance pancakes. A flare of jealousy crossed his face.

He groaned. "I'm leaving, Tifa. Just put it on my tip."

Tifa nodded and waved as Reeve walked out the door. The first thing the man did was dial a speed dial number.

"Hello?" came the lovely voice.

"Hey, honey," he murmured. "You want to go to dinner tonight?"

"Of course, but why do you sound so... confused?"

"Work," he replied flatly. "Don't worry about it. I got to go, okay? I'll call you later."

"All right. Goodbye Reeve."

"'Bye Julia," he said dully before hanging up. What was happening to him? He quickly dialed another number.

"'Lo?"

"Reno? Can you come pick me up from Tifa's please? I need to get to work."

"'Course, Boss. Be right over."

"Thank you, Reno." Reeve hung up the phone again and rubbed his temples. This felt like the start of a very long day.

**--r-e-e-f-i-e--**

"So how long are you here?" Tifa asked her friend. Tifa was cleaning dishes while Yuffie leaned on the counter top.

"We're going back this afternoon," Yuffie explained, making a face. "I can't escape for too long, especially with the wedding being next week. Speaking of which," she added, "you got your invite, right?"

"Yes, I did," Tifa responded. "So it's okay if I bring the kids, right?"

"Of course! I wouldn't get married without them there!" Yuffie exclaimed. "Oh, there you are Akio! All packed?"

"Yes," he responded simply. Akio walked over to her and slid his arm around her waist. "Excited about going home?"

She made another face, and he laughed. "No! I love it here. I don't really wanna go back and be forced into my wedding kimono and review what I have to say at my after-speech AGAIN!"

He chuckled. "I understand," he murmured. "It is very pleasant here. So much more relaxed."

"You're telling me," Yuffie muttered. "You're not the one who gets dressed up like a doll constantly." His laugh echoed gently around the empty bar.

**--r-e-e-f-i-e--**

Julia stared at her phone with annoyance. It was never good when Reeve sounded like that. If that damned ninja girl was making him think about breaking up with her, Julia really was going to kill her.

She pressed a call button on the wall. "Rebecca," she said.

"Yes, Miss?"

"Add dinner with Reeve onto my schedule," she told her receptionist.

"Of course, ma'am. Regular time, I assume?"

"Yes, Rebecca," Julia said with a sigh. This girl should know better then to ask by _now!_ Julia got annoyed by employees who couldn't figure out their place fast enough.

Or employees who thought they were _above_ their place. Like Reeve's head of Intelligence used to be. Her lips turned upwards in a smug smile. Reeve was brilliant, but she swore that he only wanted to see the best in people. After all, he had fallen for her the moment she turned on the charm. Nothing to it. The fact that her goal was so easily in sight pleased her greatly.

**--r-e-e-f-i-e--**

Rufus looked thoughtfully out his car window. He was humming absentmindedly under his breath.

"Sir?" Elena asked curiously from the front seat.

"Yes, Elena?"

"If it's not too bold of me to ask, what are you thinking about?" Tseng glanced in the rear-view mirror, obviously just as curious as his girlfriend.

"I was just thinking about Yuffie and her fiance. He seems very... capable. I think he'd do a good job as co-ruler of Wutai," Rufus told her.

"What about Reeve and Julia?" Tseng asked quietly.

"Ah, there lies the problem. I do not have an issue with Yuffie and her fiance, but I cannot allow this... thing between Reeve and my _darling_ cousin to continue," he growled.

"Do you have a plan, sir?"

Rufus was silent for a moment. "Yes, Tseng. I do. I need you to find evidence on Julia. Enough to make Reeve break up with her. Find information on this Akio Kato person as well." He paused. "Oh, and make sure Reeve comes with us to the wedding."

**--r-e-e-f-i-e--**

"'Bye, Tifa," Yuffie told her friend, hugging her tightly. "It was wonderful to see you again." Yuffie gave Denzel a quick hug as well. "Be good and take care of Marlene, okay?" she asked him.

"I will!" he told her brightly.

"Why are you leaving already?" Marlene sobbed softly. Yuffie bent down to her level as Akio said goodbye to Tifa.

"I'll see you again soon!" Yuffie promised. "You're coming to my wedding, right? And you're gonna wear the kimono I got you?"

Marlene nodded sadly. "But I don't want you to leave. Why can't you stay here? And why are you marrying _him_?" she asked.

"Well, I had to choose someone, and I chose him," Yuffie explained, glad that Akio was too far away to hear the muted conversation.

"That's silly," Marlene declared. "You should've chosen Reeve. Even Sister says so."

"Sister?" Yuffie asked, her heart speeding up slightly.

"Yes, Sister. She told me that you and Reeve were being silly, but Reeve especially. I don't like Reeve's girlfriend either. She's bad," Marlene informed Yuffie, crinkling her nose.

Yuffie forced a smile. "Yeah, I know, kiddo," she whispered. "I wanted to choose Reeve, but he didn't want me back."

"Boys are dumb," Marlene said matter-of-fact. "You have to tell them what they want. That's what Tifa says."

Yuffie laughed. "That's right, Marlene. I'll try, okay?" Marlene looked satisfied with this answer and gave Yuffie one last hug before the bride-to-be got into the car with Akio.

"Something wrong?" he asked when she looked quietly out the window.

"No," she lied. "I just miss staying here."

He smiled sympathetically and reached down to hold her hand. "It's okay," he murmured. "You'll get used to living in the palace again, and I'll be there if you ever need someone to talk to, okay?"

"All right," Yuffie agreed. "Thanks, Akio." He smiled and waved it off. Still, Yuffie wondered. Was she doing the right thing? Or was Marlene right?

* * *

**A/N: Ooooooh... I love using Marlene and Rufus as plot-movers. They're amazing. Anyway! I would like to give special thanks to Vampy (she's making a vid for this story, but with Shalua instead of Julia). BUT THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO LEO! MY 100TH REVIEWER! -cue streamers and fireworks- Thanks for reading, and please review!  
**


	14. Yuffie was Right

**DISCLAIMER! : Nope... not yet. -sigh-**

* * *

"Well, Turks? Surprise me," Rufus ordered. The four Turks exchanged slightly smug expressions.

"I think you'll be happily surprised, sir," Tseng informed him. Elena handed her boss a folder with a smile. Rufus flipped through it before a smirk crossed his face.

"Perfect."

**--r-e-e-f-i-e--**

His cell phone rang. The man glanced at his caller ID to see that it was Rufus Shinra.

"Hello?" Reeve answered.

"Ah, Reeve. I wish to speak to you. I'll be in your office shortly," Rufus told him. The line went dead. Reeve looked at his phone in slight confusion before shrugging and continuing his work on the new Cait Sith model.

Sure enough, within twenty minutes, a knock rang through his office.

"Come in," he called distractedly.

"Hello, Reeve," Rufus greeted politely.

"Good afternoon, Rufus," came the reply.

"You know I have your company's best interests in mind, correct?"

Reeve looked up curiously. "Well, of course. You've invested a lot of money, and I'm sure you hoped to see the company make something of itself."

Rufus smiled bitterly. "Yes. I hoped you could fix my wrongs," he agreed. "My point is, knowing this, I need you to know that it is in your best interest to break up with Julia," Rufus informed him, sitting down in the visitor's chair across from the head of the WRO.

"What?" Reeve jumped. "How are my personal relationships any of your business?"

"Besides her being my cousin, and you being my... friend." He seemed to shudder at the word. "I have invested deeply in your company, and if you two were to wed..." he trailed off.

"Wait, wait. I don't intend to marry her. It's been, what? Two or three months? I'm not going to ask her to marry me," Reeve assured him.

"Don't you understand?" Rufus asked coolly. "That's all she wants. She wants control of this company through you."

"Look, I know you two don't get along, but really!" Reeve exclaimed angrily.

"Yuffie just happened to say the exact same thing? How strange," Rufus said conversationally. Reeve froze, and the Turks exchanged knowing glances.

"How did you know about that?" Reeve asked slowly.

Rufus nodded to Elena. "They're very close friends," he stated.

"But-but, she doesn't really just want my power, does she?" he asked, now sounding doubtful. Rufus looked at him with pity, and he dropped a CD on Reeve's desk.

"Listen to this. It's several of Julia's conversations over the phone. Enjoy."

With that, Rufus and his Turks left. Reeve stared at the door before shifting his gaze to the CD. With a sigh, he put the CD in his computer and prepared to listen. As he listened to his girlfriend's voice travelling from his computer, his face slowly changed from curious to horrified to angry.

He snatched his phone off his desk and dialed in her number.

"Hello, Sweetie!"

"Julia," he spoke into his phone. "We need to talk."

And he hung up.

**--r-e-e-f-i-e--**

"Baby, I don't see why you're so angry at me," Julia told him brightly when she showed up at his office. Wordlessly, Reeve pressed play on his computer.

_"Hello. This is Emperor Kisaragi Godo speaking. How may I help you, Miss Markov?"_

_"Ah, please, call me Julia," the woman spoke into the phone, her voice sugar-sweet._

_"All right then, Julia, how may I help you?"_

_"Well, you see, Yuffie is working in the World Regenesis Organization under Mr. Reeve Tuesti..."_

He paused it and looked at her again, his brown eyed gaze accusing.

"What? I was concerned for her safety! Honey, she's one of your best friends. I couldn't let her get hurt!" Julia told him, sounding innocent.

"Some how, I don't believe that," he told her coldly.

"Oh, and why's that?" she asked, her voice becoming angry.

"There is more then just that audio clip on here, Julia. Rufus was right about you. _Yuffie_ was right about you. How did I let her get away so that I could keep a hold on _you_?" he asked scathingly.

"Just hold on one second there," Julia snarled. "You are _nothing_ without me! Without me, you have no support. You have gotten a lot of money from my family..."

"From your cousin," Reeve interrupted. "He would be even more willing to give more if you weren't in the picture. He was right about you. All you want is power."

"Don't be silly," she told him. "I love you!"

"No, Julia. I don't think you do. In fact, I think you should leave. I have no interest in seeing you again. Besides, I have a wedding to go see."

With that, he brushed by her to leave. On his way out, he stopped by his secretary's desk. "Make sure she leaves," he ordered.

"Yes sir," the woman complied.

"Thank you."

**--r-e-e-f-i-e--**

Marlene bounced around excitedly. "I can't wait to see Yuffie again!" she told Tifa happily. "And she'll get to see me in my pretty new dress!"

Tifa smiled. "She'll be so happy to see you wearing it," Tifa assured her. "Right, Cloud?"

"Yeah," Cloud agreed. "You look so beautiful in it," he told Marlene a fond smile crossing his face.

"Really?" Marlene asked. Cloud smiled and nodded. They all looked up at the sound of muted yelling before Cid stomped onto the passenger deck of the airship.

"Stupid ass… O-oh… Hello, Marlene," he stuttered when he saw the child. "And Denzel, of course." Denzel and Marlene shared an amused look.

"CID! If you're swearing around those kids, you're in trouble!" came Shera's yell.

"I'm not! I promise!" he yelled back hurriedly. "How are you two?" he asked Cloud and Tifa. Tifa shyly just held out her hand. Cid's jaw dropped at the size of the diamond on her ring. "So Cloud finally got around to it, did he?" he asked gruffly.

"Yes. Finally!" Tifa teased as her fiance turned red.

"Congrats you two," came Reeve's voice.

"REEVE!" Marlene squealed, running to him. He picked her up and swung her around. "Where's your girlfriend?" she asked curiously.

"We had a disagreement," Reeve told the child. "We are no longer together." Tifa raised an eyebrow, and Cloud mimicked her. Reeve shook his head. "Later," he murmured.

"Do we have everyone?" Cid asked.

"I believe so," Cloud replied. "Vincent got on with me, and you guys already had Tifa, Barrett, the kids, Nanaki, and Reeve."

Tifa looked at Reeve curiously. "Do you know if Rufus is coming?" she asked.

"Yes," Reeve replied. "He's taking his own helicopter though. That way the Turks won't bother you guys."

"Good," Cid said gruffly. "I don't know if I'd be able to handle that damned Reno making comments about my flying again... shithead," he added for extra measure.

"ARE YOU CUSSING AROUND THE KIDS AGAIN?" Shera yelled.

"No, Honey!" he yelled back. Marlene and Denzel snickered. "Our secret, kids," he told them with a wink.

The adults all exchanged amused looks. Cid had such a soft spot for kids.

"CID! GET UP HERE!"

"Shit," he cussed. "Shera's gotten so damn moody since she got pregnant." The blonde man sighed. "I better get my ass up there. I'll have to talk later."

"Cid's going to be an interesting father," Tifa noted with a laugh.

"I feel bad for his kids," Cloud said honestly. Tifa smacked his arm. "Geez, I was kidding, Teef!" he exclaimed before slipping his fingers through her's.

Reeve glanced at their intertwined hands with slight jealousy before looking out the window of the airship.

**--r-e-e-f-i-e--**

Gods, dinner had been awkward. Yuffie fell back on her bed and groaned. Her father and Rufus hadn't spoken all evening except for polite greetings. Reno had been an asshole. Cloud and Tifa were being lovey-dovey. Reeve stared at her all evening, and Akio tried to keep Yuffie's attention.

Overall, it was just bad. Period.

"I'm going for a walk, Aina," Yuffie told her maid.

"Please be back in an hour, Miss Yuffie, okay?"

"I can do that," Yuffie assured her, slipping out the door in her dark green silk pajama bottoms and white tank top. She threw her hair, which now slid over her shoulders, in a messy bun. It didn't take long for her to reach the bridge that crossed over a small creek in the gardens.

The bride-to-be leaned her elbows on the wooden railing and stared at the creek thoughtfully. She was going to be married soon. In two days, actually. The young woman stared shaking. She was too young for this. Sudden doubts filled her mind.

She jumped when a suit jacket dropped over her shoulders. Yuffie's gaze flew to the man who gave it to her. Reeve.

"Thanks," she murmured softly. Now she turned around to lean her back and elbows against the railing so she could look up and see the stars.

"No problem," came the reply. They sat in companionable silence for a moment. "Getting cold feet?" Reeve asked, his voice teasing. "Isn't that usually the groom's job?"

"Says the man who didn't even bring his girlfriend. Kinda rude to not invite her, y'think?" Yuffie shot back.

Reeve's face sombered. "I broke up with her," he said softly. "You were right. I'm so sorry I didn't believe you, Yuffie." He stepped closer to her and tilted her head towards him. "Can you forgive me? I want another chance."

"Reeve..." Yuffie murmured, her voice wanting. Their lips brushed slightly before Yuffie pulled away. "No," she said firmly.

"What?" Reeve asked, looking confused.

Yuffie handed him back his jacket. "Reeve, I'm getting _married_ in two days. I can't do this. I'm sorry," she whispered. "Goodnight, Reeve," she added before hurrying back to her room.

Reeve stood there with his coat in one hand as he watched Yuffie retreating, and he closed his eyes. He had missed his chance.

Chocolate brown eyes flew open, a new determination in them. He wasn't going to let her slip away again. She was too important to her.

His phone found it's way from his pocket. "Hello, Rufus? I have a favor to ask..."

* * *

**A/N: Not very much Yuffie this chapter. It was more about Reeve. I hope you guys liked it. I'm not sure if I'm done with Julia yet, but I think I am. This story's almost over -sniffle- , but atleast you got a chapter that's a little bit longer, right? If you have this on alert, please review. Thanks for reading!  
**


	15. Ever Ever After

**DISCLAIMER! : Nope, or this would've already happened.**

* * *

"How are you feeling?" Aina asked as the girls all bustled around. They were all working on gettting Yuffie ready. She was already wearing the beautiful white and silver silk kimono. Tifa was busy putting her hair into a simple and elegant bun. Aina was putting on Yuffie's makeup. Elena was sliding Yuffie's shoes on her feet.

"Really nervous," Yuffie whispered. She stared at herself in the mirror. She would be getting married soon. Really soon. She was scared.

Aina smiled comfortingly. "Its all right," she murmured softly. "Everyone is nervous before their wedding."

"I don't even love him," Yuffie groaned. "How can I spend the rest of my life with someone I don't love?"

"You'll grow to love him," Tifa told her reassuringly. "You guys are friends right? From friendship and respect, love will grow."

"I sure hope so," Yuffie whispered. Elena just patted her knee and gave her a knowing smile.

**--r-e-e-f-i-e--**

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Reeve asked Rufus. They were sitting in the room Yuffie was to be married in.

"Do you love her?" he asked Reeve with a sigh. The man in question nodded slowly. "Then this is the right thing."

"Why are you even helping me?" Reeve asked suddenly. Now that he thought about it, this was very uncharacteristic behavior for the ex-President Shinra.

"I am very fond of you and Yuffie's company," he said simply. "Besides, Yuffie would be a good help with your company. She would also give you immense political advantages."

"Yeah, come on, Reeve," Reno said as he put his arm around Reeve's shoulders. "She loves you too. You'll be fine. You handled helping AVALANCHE and stopping Deepground after all. This should be a piece of cake."

"If you say so..." Reeve replied, but he knew that he was doing the right thing. He missed Yuffie. Reeve felt like his world would fall apart if the marriage went through.

Rufus pulled out his phone and texted something to Elena (who was waiting outside), but Reeve was too worried to see what it was.

**--r-e-e-f-i-e--**

Elena's phone vibrated. She pulled it out to read the text message.

**Fr: Rufus**

**Do you have the girl?**

**June 7, 2:13 pm**

**Stored:**

**June 7, 2:15 pm**

She quickly texted back that she had the girl in question and just to tell her when to come in.

"Miss Elena?" the young woman asked meekly. "I'm sorry for being so rude, but why am I here again?"

Elena simply smiled and explained the plan one more time.

**--r-e-e-f-i-e--**

Yuffie glanced through the crack in the doorway. The traditional Wutain wedding shrine was set up, and all the guests were there. She felt sick. She couldn't do this. What was she even doing? Pledging her life to someone she didn't love. It was stupid. Especially since there was someone she thought she _did_ love.

"Yuffie? You ready for this?" Aina asked, taking her hand and squeezing it comfortingly.

"No, but I might as well get it over with, right?" she asked with a sad smile.

A voice drifted through the doorway, and Aina squeezed her hand one last time before stepping away.

"Presenting Her Royal Highness, Princess Kisaragi Yuffie!"

She took a deep breath before stepping through the doorway.

**--r-e-e-f-i-e--**

Akio looked down the walkway to where Yuffie was walking. She looked beautiful. She wasn't the girl he would've chosen to marry, but at least she wasn't a cruel girl. He knew they could be friends through their marriage, and maybe love would come if they were lucky.

She walked up to him and smiled. The priest handed him the drink that was said to purify his soul to prepare for marriage, and he took a sip before handing it to Yuffie. She took a drink from it as well. Next came the sake, which he took a drink of and then Yuffie copied him again.

"Your vows," the priest said solemnly. Lord Kato took a deep breath before turning to his bride and taking her hands.

"Of course," Akio started. "Yuffie, we were both thrust into this marriage, but you picked me. I don't know what possessed you to do so, but I believe that we have the ability to have a great partnership and a good friendship. Perhaps love will also come from that. I vow to protect you and guide you. I vow to dedicate my life to your happiness and be with you through happy and sad times. Thank you for agreeing to marry me."

Yuffie smiled, and he saw tears in her eyes as someone handed wedding bands to the priest.

"Once these bands adorn your fingers," he told them, "you will be married. Through good and bad, love and heartbreak. Do you agree to this?"

"I do," Akio told him, and the groom reached for a ring. He moved to slide it on Yuffie's finger when a sudden yell rang out.

"NO!"

Reeve bolted to the front of the shrine. Akio withdrew his hand, and he felt relief wash across his face.

"What is going on here?!" Godo yelled. "Why are you interrupting my daughter's wedding?!"

"I can't let them get married," Reeve said desperately. "I love her!" He turned to Yuffie. "I'm so sorry. I wish I had seen it sooner... Yuffie, I'm sorry. I love _you_. I don't know how I ever thought I loved Julia."

Yuffie's eyes filled with tears of utter happiness. "It's okay now. You're here with me," she whispered as he took her in his arms. His lips found her own and a soft kiss was shared.

"Well, since you're all here," Elena said with amusement from the entry way, "how about we have another wedding instead. I heard a little rumor that Akio here had been planning to pop the question to another girl before Yuffie."

The blonde stepped aside, and a shy Wutain woman stepped through the doorway. She was very petite and slender, and she was very beautiful.

"Izumi?" he whispered in disbelief. Akio knew that his family had fired the young maid after finding out about the pair's involvement with each other. "What are you doing here?"

"I came for you," she murmured. "I heard a rumor that you wanted to marry me."

A delighted grin flew across his face as he ran to her and pulled her into his arms. "I love you, Izzy," he whispered.

"I know, Honey. I love you too."

Reeve and Yuffie glanced at each other happily before going and sitting down to watch the new couple wed.

**--r-e-e-f-i-e--**

_(Two months later)_

Yuffie was sneaking around the WRO building. She had been in Wutai for the past week, and she wanted to surprise her boyfriend.

His secretary glanced up at her before smiling. _"No one's there,"_ she mouthed. Yuffie nodded her thanks before throwing the door open and dashing across the room.

Reeve only had time to look up before he found himself with a lapful of ninja. "Hello, Darling," he greeted.

"Hello, Handsome. How's life?" she replied.

"Better now you're here," he told her truthfully. "Get off for a second and turn around."

"Why?" she asked curiously.

"No questions," he demanded. The ninja rolled her eyes but complied. Yuffie heard the noise of a desk drawer opening and closing behind her.

"Can I turn around yet?" she asked when she heard the noises stop.

"Yes," he told her. Yuffie turned around and gasped. Reeve was down on one knee with a ring box open. "Yuffie," he started, his voice wavering nervously, "will you marry me?"

She literally tackled him to the ground. "Of course I will," she told him before covering his mouth with her own.

"I think I'm falling for you," he whispered teasingly. "Is that okay?"

Yuffie laughed. "Yeah, that's fine cause I think I'm falling for you too."

**THE END!**

* * *

**A/N: And there is the end. Ah... My very first story at over a hundred reviews with 15 alerts and 5 favs. Thanks to all my lovely readers and thanks ESPECIALLY to my faithful reviewers and to those who supported this story 100 percent. I LOVE YOU ALL! haha. I hope you enjoyed this story. I certain did. Thanks for reading, and please review!  
**


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